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FBI examines Sen Sun’s 3 cell phones
The Federal Bureau of Investigation examined last week the three cell phones that were seized from an overstaying Chinese tourist who has already pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed business that offered trip packages to pregnant Chinese women seeking to give birth here.
FBI special agent Scott Berkland told the U.S. District Court for the NMI last Friday that they examined Sen Sun’s two iPhones and one MI smartphone last Tuesday.
The FBI seized the devices from Sun last Nov. 3 and obtained a search warrant on the three phones last Nov. 8. Berkland told the court on Friday that all available data were extracted from the phones.
In its request for the warrant, Berkland said there is probable cause to believe that Sun used the phones to coordinate the recruitment, transportation, harboring, concealment, and employment of illegal or unauthorized aliens, as well as the movement of funds.
Berkland said the search was intended to seize data and information that may constitute evidence.
Sun, also known as Sam Sun, pleaded guilty last month to a charge of harboring illegal aliens as part of a plea deal.
The offense carries a maximum penalty of not more than five years of imprisonment, a fine of not more than $250,000, probation of not more than five years, and a $1,000 special assessment.
Sun will be sentenced on March 30, 2018.
Between Jan. 1, 2017, and Nov. 3, 2017, Sun ran an illegal business operation arranging travel, medical, and other services to pregnant foreign citizens seeking to give birth in the NMI.
Assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley said that each of Sun’s clients paid up to $15,000 for this service.
O’Malley said that Sun employed 15 workers for this scheme, despite knowing they were aliens who were not authorized to work in the U.S.
The indictment charged Sun with harboring illegal aliens, unlawfully employing aliens, and money laundering.
