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Judge Manglona frees convicted man in jail for more than 6 months
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Posted on Feb 06 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
The district court on Friday continued the sentencing of a man who was found guilty of trying to sneak aboard a Los Angeles-bound flight using fake documents, but freed the defendant since he has been in custody for more than six months now although the maximum recommended sentence is only six months.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona continued the sentence of Dongjun Li to Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 8am, as she is currently presiding over an ongoing jury trial in a separate civil case.
The U.S. government and defense attorney Mark Scoggins did not object to the delay of sentencing.
Manglona ordered Li be released, subject to possible detention by U.S. immigration in connection with a removal case.
Assistant U.S. attorney Ross Naughton and Scoggins did not object for Li’s release.
The U.S. Probation Office has requested the federal court to continue Li’s sentencing originally set for last Friday, Feb. 3, to Feb. 15, 2012. Scoggins, however, objected to the request because his client been in jail for more than six months already.
U.S. Probation Officer Margarita D. Wonenberg said the continuance will allow the probation officer to respond to Li’s objections filed on Jan. 25 and 27, 2012.
But Scoggins said if the request is granted, Li will have been in custody for seven months by the time he is sentenced.
“Under Mr. Li’s interpretation of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, he has already served longer than the maximum recommended sentence of six months,” Scoggins said.
Judge Manglona agreed with Scoggins and denied the U.S. Probation’s request.
A federal jury last October found Li, a Chinese national, guilty of immigration fraud and false statement.
The document fraud was related to Li’s possession and use of fake parole documents when he tried to check in for a trip to California on July 15, 2011, at the Saipan International Airport.
