Previous Story
Sentencing of ex-BMV official postponed
|
Posted on Nov 07 2011
The federal court has approved putting off the sentencing of William A. Hocog, a former supervisor at the Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles who pleaded guilty plea for his role in the driver’s license scam case.
Hocog’s sentencing, originally scheduled for Friday, will now be on Nov. 22, at 1:30pm.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona set the new sentencing date after assistant U.S. attorney Garth Backe and defense lawyer Vicente T. Salas agreed to postpone the sentencing due to the unresolved issue regarding the appropriate guideline offense level section.
Salas would like more time to research the issue and submit a formal objection to the U.S. Probation’s current guideline assessment.
The U.S. government, in turn, would like more time to look into whether there are any specific offense characteristics to be applied to Hocog.
Hocog pleaded guilty in June to one count in the indictment that charged him with conspiracy to unlawfully produce and transfer an identification document.
According to the prosecution, from April 16 to June 18, 2010, Hocog and his four co-defendants conspired to unlawfully produce and transfer CNMI driver’s licenses.
His other co-defendants—Tahira Dolores Selepeo Miah, Mohammad Jahangir Miah, Hongmei Sun, and Hui Qiang Yan—have already pleaded guilty.
