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Man pleads not guilty to illegal attempt to enter Guam
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Posted on May 25 2012
One of two Chinese nationals accused of trying to sneak into Guam from Rota using a rubber boat has pleaded not guilty.
Jingzhi Zheng appeared with court-appointed counsel, Bruce Berline, for his initial appearance and arraignment Thursday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the NMI.
Zheng pleaded not guilty to the charge of “entering the U.S. by willfully false and misleading representation and willful concealment of material fact.”
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona set the bench trial for July 30, 2012, and the detention hearing for Wednesday, May 30, at 9am.
Zheng was remanded back into the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
According to court papers, the 24-year-old Zheng has been in administrative custody of the Homeland Security Investigations since his arrest on April 23, 2012.
It is not clear yet whether charges were filed or will be filed against Zheng’s companion, Jingqiang Huang.
According to the charging document, Zheng entered Saipan on April 4, 2012, stating he was a tourist and was going to return to China on April 9, 2012.
Zheng, however, secretly intended to travel from Rota to Guam by inflatable boat and, once in Guam, to remain there, according to assistant U.S. attorney Ross K. Naughton.
On April 22, 2012, Department of Public Safety Boating Safety officers in Rota responded to a distressed inflatable boat two miles off the shores of Rota.
The officers located the boat and rescued the two passengers, later identified as Zheng and Huang.
