Disbarred lawyer Atalig slapped with 6-mo. prison term

Disbarred lawyer Antonio M. Atalig was sentenced yesterday to a maximum of six months in prison without parole for criminal contempt after he failed to report to the Department of Corrections to serve his sentence in a domestic violence case.

Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman said the sentence shall run consecutively with the eight-month sentence that was earlier slapped against Atalig in the domestic violence case.

This means that Atalig will serve the six months for criminal contempt on top of the eight-month prison term in the domestic violence case.

Wiseman required Atalig to pay a $100 fine and $25 court assessment fee.

Wiseman removed the work release conditions that he imposed in the domestic violence case.

In handing down the sentence, the judge cited Atalig’s previous criminal convictions as well as his handling of a probate matter that led to his disbarment.

Wiseman said the government should consider filing a perjury case against Atalig. Apparently, the alleged perjury pertained to Atalig’s declarations filed in local courts about his failure to report to DOC.

The 57-year-old Atalig apologized to the court for his actions.

Assistant attorney general Heather Barcinas recommended a sentence of six months in prison, while defense counsel Robert Myers Jr. recommended a six-month probation sentence.

Last April 1, Wiseman found Atalig guilty of criminal contempt for not complying with the court’s order requiring him to report to DOC on Feb. 15, 2014.

“I do not find Atalig’s testimony credible at all,” Wiseman had said at the hearing.

According to court records, Atalig pleaded guilty last year to assault and battery, two counts of disturbing the peace, and criminal contempt. Wiseman sentenced him to eight months in prison. The judge then granted Atalig’s request to delay reporting to DOC because he needed to find a job and fulfill many other obligations.

Wiseman orally granted Atalig’s request, ordering him to report to DOC on or before Feb. 15, 2014. The defendant submitted a proposed order to start serving his sentence on Feb. 15, 2015. Wiseman signed the order but later corrected the year to 2014.

On Feb. 25, 2014, Myers, on behalf of Atalig, asked Wiseman to extend once more the time for Atalig to serve his sentence, claiming, among other things, that the typographical error was due to a recording error. Wiseman rejected Atalig’s motion.

Wiseman then issued an arrest warrant for Atalig after learning that he did not report to DOC on Feb. 15. Police, court marshals, and probation officers failed to locate him.

On March 7, Atalig surrendered to DOC to begin serving his eight-month prison term for domestic violence.

Wiseman then issued an order to show cause, directing Atalig to explain why he should not be held in contempt.

Atalig said he reported to DOC on March 7 after somebody informed him a day earlier that the police were looking for him. Atalig said he was not in hiding as he was processing some paperwork between As Lito and Capital Hill at the time.

In May 2012, Wiseman suspended Atalig and Reynaldo O. Yana from practicing law in the CNMI after they refused to return $1.1 million in attorneys’ fees that the two obtained from the Angel Malite estate. In January 2014, the CNMI Supreme Court disbarred the two lawyers.