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Ex-DOLI employee pleads guilty to producing fake entry permit
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Posted on Oct 05 1999
A former employee of the Department of Labor and Immigration has pled guilty to charges of producing a fake entry permit using the department’s computerized documentation network called Labor and Immigration Identification and Documentation System or LIIDS.
Gloria Villagomez Castro entered into a plea agreement with the US government last Sept. 30. Federal Judge Alex Munson has set the sentencing for Jan. 4, 2000.
According to the information filed by Assistant US Atty. David Wood, Castro produced a fake student permit for Ying Yi Huang on July 27, 1998.
Investigation conducted by a joint FBI-CNMI task force revealed that Castro accepted a total of $400 which she had demanded in exchange for the issuance of an entry permit for Ying.
Castro’s activity was discovered by task force investigators through “physical surveillance and recorded electronic surveillance.”
Investigation found that Castro produced the fake entry permit from LIIDS, a federally-funded program which is being used by DOLI to record and monitor the arrival and departure of aliens, including contract workers, students, investors and tourists.
According to special federal officer Edward Cabrera, a check of DOLI records disclosed that Ying was a minor with a previous immediate-relative status in the CNMI.
Considering Ying’s status, the investigators said, “there was no legal basis for renewal and there was no lawful way for Ying to receive a student permit.”
The government’s complaint said Castro’s activity “affected foreign commerce.”
“CNMI entry permit affect foreign commerce in that they are issued to aliens and caused among other economic effects, travel in foreign commerce to the CNMI,” the complaint sheet said.
Castro was charged with a felony that carries a maximum jail time of 15 years and fine of $250,000, but her plea agreement is expected to reduce her punishment. (MCM)
