Woman sentenced for exploitation of women

A Filipino woman was sentenced by the U.S. District Court yesterday to a one-year imprisonment on charges of sexual exploitation of women whom she employed as waitresses and singers at a karaoke bar she co-owned on Saipan.

Elizabeth P. Castaneda, 39, from Laguna province, in the Philippines, will be immediately deported once she has served out the sentence in a federal prison in the U.S. mainland.

District Court Judge Alex R. Munson also placed her under a three-year probation upon her release from prison, while crediting as time served the eight days she spent in jail when the case was filed by the U.S. government in 1997.

Ms. Castaneda copped a plea agreement in October 1998 on charges of transportation and counseling, commanding and inducing, procuring and causing the transportation of an individual in foreign commerce for illegal sexual activity.

The offense carries a maximum of five-year jail sentence, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and a restitution fee.

While prosecution and the defense agreed to a downward sentencing guideline of probation, Judge Munson handed down the stiffer sentence in consideration of its impact on the lives of women, describing Ms. Castaneda’s action as “coercive economically.”

Ms. Castaneda’s counsel credited her for providing substantial assistance to the prosecution and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for indictment of other prominent individuals in the community, in the process putting her family at risk.

She recently assisted the federal government in the indictment of Benjamin A. Sablan, board member of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, although he was acquitted by a jury last month on bribery charges involving federal funds.

According to court documents, Ms. Castaneda recruited waitresses and singers from the Philippines to work at the defunct Moods and Music, the karaoke bar she used to co-own in San Jose.

One waitress, BGSN, claimed she was brought to Saipan in July 1997 after paying her 15,000 in Philippine pesos (about $500 in prevailing exchange rate at that time), only to end up being forced to work as prostitute.

Although she complained to the bar manager Luisa Sta. Maria that customers were harassing her, she said she was even told a “loser” if she quit her job.

“Ms. Castaneda was aware the waitresses and singers were providing sexual services, not all of them voluntarily,” stated the plea agreement she entered into with the federal prosecutors.

According to U.S. Assistant Attorney Greg Baka, Ms. Castaneda will be handed over to the custody of U.S. Marshalls Office after 10 days so that she can be remanded to the Bureau of Prisons to serve out her sentence.