Drug trafficker who pleaded guilty gets 18-month prison term

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho imposed yesterday a five-year prison sentence, all suspended except one year and six months, on a man who was arrested in 2016 for allegedly selling methamphetamine or “ice” on Saipan, but pleaded guilty to the offense of illegal possession of controlled substance.

Camacho said the suspended sentence may be imposed against defendant Liu Zheng Shan for any violation of CNMI and federal laws, or rules of the Office of Adult Probation.

Shan, 52, also known as Papa, was given credit for time served since his arrest on April 4, 2016.

Upon completion of the prison term, Camacho said, Shan will be placed on probation for three years and shall pay the probation fees.

Shan, a Chinese national, has no prior criminal history. He originally came to the CNMI in 1998 and worked legally in the garment industry. When the garment industry ended, he illegally stayed doing odd jobs as a farmer, at a golf course, and in construction.

Camacho directed the clerk of court to provide the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement a copy of the sentencing order.

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

Chief public defender Douglas Hartig, counsel for Shan, recommended a sentence of time served of 16 months. Such recommendation in effect would allow the defendant to be released immediately.

Shan pleaded guilty in January 2017.

The Office of the Attorney General originally charged the defendant with trafficking of a controlled substance and illegal possession of controlled substance, which carry a total maximum sentence of 30 consecutive years of imprisonment.

OAG then filed a request to amend the information to remove the charge of trafficking of controlled substance. The court granted the motion.

The remaining count of illegal possession of controlled substance carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.

In other words, Camacho said, OAG “discounted 25 years, or 83 percent of the possible consecutive maximum sentence.”

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, Shan unlawfully possessed 1.5 gross grams of crystal methamphetamine on April 1, 2016 on Saipan.

CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force officer Roque K. Camacho stated in his report that a cooperating defendant was able to buy $230 worth of “ice” from Shan during a “buy-walk” operation on April 1, 2016 in Chalan Kanoa.

During the operation, the officer said, the cooperating defendant first met Shan outside a poker arcade in Chalan Kanoa, then the two proceeded to a parking lot of a store in Chalan Kanoa.