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Man in drug case changes plea for lighter sentence
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Posted on Apr 14 2000
A Filipino resident on Saipan facing drug charges in the U.S. District Court yesterday copped a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Eduardo V. Cruz, 42, and a permanent resident of the United States, admitted to Judge Alex R. Munson to conspiring with another person to import methampetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as “ice”, as well as to selling the illegal drugs.
U.S. Assistant Attorney David T. Wood, lead prosecutor, recommended a three-year jail sentence against the accused. Judge Munson, who approved the plea agreement, set his sentencing on July 25.
Because of his change of plea, Mr. Cruz, a resident of Saipan for the last 17 years, evaded stiffer penalties for the charges that carry a maximum jail sentence of 12 years, up to a $1 million in fine and between three to five years of supervised release.
He pled not guilty during his arraignment last February, along with his co-accused, Jaime F. Maniquiz, also a Filipino national. The latter is expected to enter into a plea agreement today in the federal court.
Mr. Cruz is out on a bail of $25,000 unsecured bond, while Judge Munson did not set a bail for Mr. Maniquiz since he is currently in the custody of the Division of Corrections facing a separate criminal case before the Superior Court.
The charges against the two were supported by an affidavit from Raymond M. Renguul, a member of the Drug Enforcement Agency/CNMI Task Force for almost three years.
According to court documents, Mr. Maniquiz and other conspirators smuggled “ice” into the Commonwealth from the Philippines between October 1999 and February 2000. Also during that period, he and Mr. Cruz conspired to sell and distribute the illicit drugs on the island.
Mr. Cruz agreed as part of the deal with the prosecution, among other conditions, to serve as undercover agent for both federal and local officials in their anti-drugs campaign in the CNMI. (BS)
