Of 6 drug court participants, 3 dropped

Of the six participants in the Drug Offender Re-entry Program of the U.S. District Court for the NMI, three of them have already been terminated for continued drug use and other violations.

According to court documents, DORE first convened on Jan. 26, 2016, with four participants—former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Bob Hajime Deleon Guerrero Yamagishi, former police officer Florencio Q. Richards, Vicente Aldan Sablan, and Francisco Nakatsukasa Basa.

Of the original four, only Yamagishi is still with the program; the U.S. District Court for the NMI already terminated Richards, Sablan, and Basa.

Norman Kapileo and Daniel M. Quitugua later voluntarily joined DORE. The two are still with the program. No one has graduated yet from the 12-month program.

Of the three remaining participants, Yamagishi is so far the closest to graduating.

However, at the 18th DORE session last June 20, U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather L. Kennedy accepted the Drug Team’s recommendation that the court make a finding that Yamagishi has not been in compliance with his terms of supervised release.

Kennedy sanctioned Yamagishi to serve eight days in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Services. Yamagishi was allowed to serve the eight days in prison during weekends; he was required to report to prison on Saturdays and Mondays.

The court gave Yamagishi no credit for June.

At the 17th DORE session in May, Yamagishi was commended for having 11 months of credit for his participation in the program.

As for Kapileo and Quitugua, the court accepted the Drug Team’s recommendation at the 18th DORE session last June that it make a finding that the two have been in compliance with the terms of their supervised release and commended them for their positive adjustments, thus far.

Kapileo and Quitugua were given credit for the month of June for their participation in the program.

The court terminated Richards and Sablan at the 15th DORE session last March, while Basa was terminated at the 12th session in December 2016.

The court accepted the Drug Team’s recommendation to make a finding that Richards, Sablan, and Basa have not been in compliance with the conditions of their supervised release.

DORE is a post-incarceration cooperative effort program of the U.S. District Court, U.S. Probation Office, Federal Public Defender, and U.S. Attorney’s Office.

DORE provides treatment and sanction alternatives to address re-integration into the community for non-violent, substance abuse offenders released from federal prison.

The Superior Court also has its own drug court. The media, however, are not allowed to cover their sessions.