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Judge orders detention of Miah
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Posted on Mar 31 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has ordered the detention of Mohammad Jahangir Miah who is facing new charges for his alleged involvement in a scheme of cashing fraudulent CNMI tax refund checks.
In an order issued Thursday, Manglona determined that there is a serious risk that Miah will not appear in court hearings.
There is also a serious risk that Miah will endanger the safety of another person or the community, particularly prospective witnesses, including the “cooperating source,” Manglona said.
The judge remanded Miah to the custody of the attorney general or a designated representative for confinement at a corrections facility.
On Thursday, the U.S. government and Miah’s new court-appointed counsel, Colin Thompson, agreed to the postponement of a hearing scheduled that day on the prosecution’s motion concerning a breach of plea agreement issue.
The U.S. government filed the motion asking the court to declare Miah in breach of a plea agreement that he entered in connection with the driver’s license scam case.
On Aug. 19, 2011, Miah, one of the five suspects in a driver’s license scam at the Department of Public Safety, pleaded guilty in federal court to a count of conspiring to unlawfully produce and transfer identification documents. He was placed on home confinement pending his sentencing.
Last week, FBI agents arrested Miah after the U.S. government filed a criminal complaint charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
