Man gets 36-month probation for hiding $20K in luggage

The federal court on Friday imposed a 36-month probation sentence on Delin Ma, who was arrested by federal agents at the Francisco C. Ada Saipan International Airport for concealing $20,000 in his hand-carried luggage while bound for Shanghai, China.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered that the $23,000 seized from Ma at the time of his arrest be forfeited for the U.S. government.

The $3,294 that Ma was carrying on his person at the time of his arrest shall be returned to him.

During his probation, Ma will be required to perform 50 hours of community service. He will also be prohibited from possessing and using controlled substances. However, the mandatory drug testing condition will be waived as the 52-year-old Ma’s history indicates a low risk to use a controlled substance.

He was ordered to immediately pay the $100 special assessment fee after the sentencing.

Manglona advised Ma that the court agreed with his counsel’s arguments and that he was not subject to any immigration order from the court.

Assistant U.S. attorney Russell Lorfing recommended a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guideline range.

Benjamin Petersburg, the court-appointed counsel for Ma, agreed with the U.S. Probation’s recommendation of a probation sentence.

Attorney Mark Hanson, co-counsel of Petersburg, said a three-year probation sentence is more than enough, given Ma’s personal history, his honesty, and his first-time offender status.

Hanson said the presentence investigation report details Ma’s personal history and shows he has led a simple and hardworking life.

Hanson said Ma was a farmer in China and moved to the CNMI in order to better support his family.

Ma has been in the CNMI since 1997 and that during all that time, he has been employed and earned an income to support himself and his family. Ma has no criminal history.

Hanson said Ma was stopped at the Saipan airport on his way back to China for his son’s wedding.

“Ma admits that he was not forthcoming with CBP agents when he failed to declare all of the currency he had with him at the airport,” Hanson said.

Hanson said Ma stated that he was scared at the time, and that it was the first time he had carried money through the airport in this fashion.

“While we do not seek to downplay the offense, we do note that it is non-violent and that Mr. Ma did actually declare the currency on his person,” he said.

A criminal complaint charged Ma with bulk cash smuggling. He posted a $10,000 secured bond for his temporary release. He subsequently pleaded guilty.

A federal grand jury later indicted Ma with one count of bulk cash smuggling out of the United States. The indictment also sought to forfeit the $26,294 that was seized from Ma at the airport.

Under the currency reporting laws, a person is required to report any amount of currency $10,000 and over when traveling out of or into the U.S.

According to Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations special agent Michael D. Lansangan, Sichuan Airlines flight 3U-8648 was scheduled to depart Saipan last Feb. 13 and fly directly to Shanghai.

Ma allegedly declared a little over $6,000 and a little over 1,000 Chinese RMB to him both verbally and in writing, by completing a Customs and Border Protection form.

Ma later allegedly admitted that the money was not his, but belonged to a person named “Zheng Xiaolong” who owned “L&M Market.”

According to Lansangan, Ma stated that the $20,000 retrieved from his luggage was given to him by his boss, Shaorong Zeng, who operates the LN Market.

Ma stated that Zeng told him she had borrowed the money from a person in China named Maiying Xu and needed to pay back the loan.

Lansangan said Ma also stated that because he was so scared of losing Zeng’s money, or having it taken or stolen from him, he took the envelopes and hid them in his pants before packing them into his luggage.