AGO moves to revoke probation of two convicts

The Attorney General’s Office has asked the Superior Court to revoke the probation of two men who have violated the terms of their suspended sentence.

Chief prosecutor David Hutton yesterday filed the motion to revoke the probations of Ramon C. Blas, 45, and Frankie T. Mafnas, 28, for committing the same offenses they had been convicted of.

On July 6, 2004, Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona Manglona sentenced Blas to 10 years of imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to burglary and theft charges. Manglona suspended Blas’ sentence except for three years, and gave him credit for the 54 days he had served in jail.

He was supposed to report to the Division of Corrections on Aug. 2, Monday, to serve the balance of his three-year unsuspended sentence.

But in the evening of July 15, Blas was arrested for burglarizing a van parked in Garapan, and a dive shop in China Town.

According to police reports, Blas broke into the van of Frank Pangelinan, owner of Da Place Night Club in Garapan, and stole his portable DVD player and electric saw.

On the same night, Blas also stole a gray Toshiba Dyna Book laptop, worth $2,000, from Pastime Dive Shop in China Town.

Police said Blas was carrying three black bags containing the stolen items when he was arrested in China Town. Also found in his possession were bundles of U.S. dollar bills worth at least $1,856 and Japanese yen bills of unknown amount, as well as drug paraphernalia.

The stolen items were returned to their owners after the arrest.

For his part, Mafnas, a former Division of Immigration officer, was given a one-year suspended sentence after he entered a guilty plea to a theft by deception charge. Mafnas’ probation was supposed to be effective until April 15, 2005.

But only three months since being put on probation, Mafnas was arrested on July 20 for one count of theft by deception and was ordered to pay a $3,000 bail for his temporary release.

Mafnas was accused of failing to deliver four laptops, which Eulalia Dimaano purchased from him for $500.

Police said that on June 25, Mafnas went to Geo Testing Office in Gualo Rai, where the alleged victim works, asking for some concrete cylinders that the company usually gives away.
Mafnas also offered to sell Dimaano and her co-worker, Dennis Macatangay, four laptops for $500 on the condition that she paid in cash. The laptops are in a container that belongs to his Korean boss who had died, he said.

Dimaano agreed to pay $100, while Macatangay paid Mafnas the remaining $400 at the bank. Then, the two went to a garment factory on Airport Road, where Mafnas said he would get the key to the container. After making Macatangay wait for 10 minutes, Mafnas came back and told Macatangay that they needed to go to the airport for the laptops.

Mafnas again left Macatangay waiting for a couple of hours, but this time, he did not come back.

The following day, Mafnas called Dimaano, promising to give her money back and asking her not to report the incident to the police because he was under probation. But Dimaano already had.

According to probation officer Robin Saban, Mafnas also violated the terms of his suspended sentence by failing to attend his crime prevention class on July 9, 2004.