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Man gets 6-month prison term for robbing 2 Russian tourists
Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio imposed yesterday a six-month prison term on a man who was one of two persons who robbed two tourists in Garapan.
Kim-Tenorio sentenced Benwachi Nicky Taisakan to two years in prison, all suspended except for six months, for robbery. The sentence shall be served with no possibility of parole.
The 26-year-old Taisakan was given credit for 21 days of time served.
After completing the prison term, Taisakan will be placed on five years probation.
The judge ordered Taisakan and his co-defendant, Manuel Jones Villagomez, to jointly pay one victim, Eugeniia Afanasieva, $1,976 in restitution.
Taisakan was also required to pay a $1,000 fine, $500 in probation fee, and $100 in court assessment fee. He was ordered to complete 250 hours of community service.
Taisakan pleaded guilty to robbery as part of the deal. The remaining charges of theft, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to theft, and disturbing the peace was dropped.
Assistant attorney general Heather Barcinas prosecuted the case. Samuel Mok served as court-appointed counsel for Taisakan.
According to police, Taisakan and Villagomez went to Garapan on Dec. 3, 2013, with plans to rob someone. Taisakan grabbed Afanasieva’s purse and then got into a getaway car being driven by Villagomez.
Police detectives identified the suspects after Taisakan’s cell phone fell on the road when the victim’s boyfriend chased him.
Taisakan claimed that prior to the robbery, Villagomez picked him up at his residence in Koblerville and they both smoked methamphetamine or “ice.”
Last May, Kim-Tenorio slapped the 39-year-old Villagomez with a one-year prison term for robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and assault and battery in connection with the robbery and a domestic violence case.
