Human smuggling recruiter meted out prison term

The U.S. District Court sentenced to 21 months in prison the man who recruited several Chinese workers for a fee in a failed human smuggling attempt to Guam sometime last December.

Chief Judge Alex R. Munson imposed the prison term on Jose Dalton Osting Rancapan, noting that the defendant would be credited for the time he had already spent in jail before the sentencing. The judge remanded Rancapan to the custody of the U.S. Marshal after sentencing the defendant last week.

Rancapan earlier pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain.

Last December, federal prosecutors charged Rancapan, boat pilot Godofredo Racadag Agawa and 14 Chinese workers who attempted to unlawfully enter Guam by sailing on a boat from Saipan.

U.S. prosecutor Patrick Smith accused Rancapan and Agawa of conspiring to induce the Chinese workers to unlawfully enter and reside in the U.S. for financial gain. According to Smith, Rancapan and Agawa bought a boat to carry out the plan to cause the Chinese workers to disembark on Guam, particularly at an area undetected by immigration officers.

The group had reached Guam on the early morning of Dec. 5 but Agawa had to detour to Rota after being unable to find a safe drop-off point. The waves were rough when the boat reached the Tumon Bay area near the Nikko Hotel. CNMI law enforcement officers discovered the human smuggling attempt after the boat reached Rota in the afternoon.

Investigation revealed that Rancapan and Agawa had a prior human smuggling attempt, when they boarded 16 Chinese passengers on Saipan to ferry them to Guam. The boat, however, experienced mechanical trouble near Rota, prompting Agawa to steer the boat back to Saipan.

Munson also imposed two years of supervised release on Rancapan after the defendant’s release from federal incarceration. The judge tasked Rancapan to perform 200 hours of community service. As part of the special conditions of the supervised release, the judge said Rancapan should be delivered to immigration officials for deportation proceedings.

Meanwhile, the judge also sentenced another person to jail for an attempted improper entry by an alien. Yu Ai Li’s four-day prison term, however, has already been served before the sentencing. Munson placed Yu on one-year supervised release and tasked the defendant to perform 200 hours of community service.

Yu earlier pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to enter Guam last April 5 after boarding a boat on Tinian.