Man gets 2 years, 2 others get 3 years’ prison time

A man was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal possession of methamphetamine or “ice.” Two others were slapped with a three-year prison term each for the same offense.

John P. Deleon Guerrero was sentenced last week to two years imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or probation, and fined $2,000. His sentence shall be on top of his sentence in a 2016 case.

In the 2016 case, Deleon Guerrero, 41, also known as Masi, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of controlled substance. In that case, he was sentenced last September to the maximum of five years imprisonment.

Also sentenced last week were Cheng D. Zhang and Fu Le Li each to three years imprisonment each, without the possibility of parole, and fined $2,000 each.

Zhang, 41, a Chinese national, was given credit for 384 days of time served. Li, 30, also a Chinese national, was given credit for 415 days of time served.

In Deleon Guerrero’s case, he just pleaded guilty last February to illegal possession of a controlled substance.

Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds, counsel for the government, had recommended a sentence of five years imprisonment.

Hinds urged the court to consider all the facts surrounding the matter, Deleon Guerrero’s long criminal history, the effects of “ice” addiction in the Commonwealth, and the need to send a strong message to the community against drug use.

In 2004, Deleon Guerrero was convicted of assault and battery, and theft in two Superior Court cases.

In July 2006, Deleon Guerrero was convicted of one count of conspiracy to receive and possess stolen mail, and three counts of possession of stolen mail in a federal court case.

On July 27, 2006, Deleon Guerrero was convicted of burglary and theft in two Superior Court cases.

In 2015, Deleon Guerrero pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance in a Superior Court case.

In 2016, Deleon Guerrero pleaded guilty to illegal possession of controlled substance in a Superior Court case.

In his latest case, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio said that, while she recognizes that drug use and addiction heavily contributed to Deleon Guerrero’s criminal behavior, short and lenient sentences have not adequately deterred him from committing crimes.

Kim-Tenorio said that Deleon Guerrero himself shared that he has struggled with his addiction for 20 years—watching how it has damaged his life and deeply affected his family.

In Zhang’s case, according to the factual basis of the plea agreement, the defendant was found in possession of “ice” on Saipan on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, 2016.

In Li’s case, she was found in possession of “ice” on Oct. 27, 2016.

Zhang and Li were among the four persons arrested in late October 2016 by members of the CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force during a buy-bust operation and a raid at a residence on Navy Hill.