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Parole board asks to be excluded from austerity
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Posted on Feb 12 2020
The CNMI Board of Parole is requesting the CNMI government to exclude it from the upcoming austerity regime, saying it would prevent them from carrying out their duties properly.
According to board chair Ramon “RB” Camacho, the board will be asking Gov. Ralph DLG Torres in a letter today to ask him to exclude the board from austerity because they are already short-staffed as it is and is tasked to watch over 35 of some of the CNMI’s most notorious criminals who are out on parole.
“We currently have only one officer and the chief parole officer. We do side checks, we also check with the employers. On top of that, we still do routine night checks after lessons so it’s never-ending security. We check up on them on the weekends and the holidays [too], so it’s really hard but we’re very motivated because this is our job to keep the community safe,” he said.
According to chief parole officer Nick Reyes, he and one other officer look after 35 parolees, with over 20 of them employed, taking counseling, and other court-required classes and lessons.
If the division goes into austerity as planned, their hours would be reduced from 80 hours to 64 and zero overtime, which could affect their routine checkups and that could possibly threaten the safety of community members.
Some of the recent convicts who are out on parole include Shawn Appleby, Ezra Deleon Guerrero, and George Langu.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Appleby was sentenced to a 40-year prison term for killing Byung Ok Suh in November 1996 after robbing the victim’s store, Chalan Market, in San Antonio.
Appleby bolted from prison on Oct. 10, 1999, with two other inmates. He was later sentenced to a year in prison, on top of his 40-year sentence.
Deleon Guerrero was sentenced to 30 years in prison term for killing Jae Soung Shim in May 2009 during a robbery at the victim’s store, New Star Market, in Tanapag. The victim was repeatedly hit with a tangan-tangan stick to the head numerous times.
Langu was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for breaking into a house and raping his 16-year-old neighbor.
