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Boat pilot in human smuggling try pleads guilty
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Posted on Mar 21 2008
The pilot of a boat that got stranded 20 nautical miles northwest of Guam in an attempt to unlawfully enter Guam last year has entered a guilty plea.
Edwin Fariola Blanilla, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling a person from the Commonwealth to the U.S. for commercial advantage or financial gain.
Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona accepted Blanilla’s plea and sentenced him to five years in prison, all suspended except for eight months and 20 days.
Following the plea agreement, Manglona gave the defendant credit for the time he had already served from June 29, 2007 through March 19, 2008.
Because of this, Blanilla was released from the Department of Corrections on Wednesday.
Blanilla was placed on five years of unsupervised probation and required to pay a $100 court assessment fee.
Manglona ordered the defendant to depart the CNMI immediately upon receipt of his repatriation airline ticket.
Blanilla, a Filipino, will not be allowed to return to the CNMI.
The judge said the defendant should surrender any ownership interest, if any, on the boat that he used for the smuggling attempt. He was directed to turn over the vessel to the CNMI government.
The pilot, Blanilla, was supposed to drop off 11 Chinese nationals in the waters near Guam so they could enter the territory in June 2007. In exchange, he was to receive the boat as payment.
Immigration inspector Erwin Flores stated in court papers that the 11 Chinese nationals on board the boat had no passports in their possession, nor did they have any type of visa authorizing them to enter Guam.
Flores said that Blanilla planned to sell the boat and then return to the Philippines.
It was Blanilla who called authorities for assistance when the boat got disabled near Rota.
Last month, Manglona imposed a 19-day prison term on one of the 11 passengers for improper entry into the U.S.
The defendant, Yanong Lin Doone, was given 19 days credit for the time she had already served in prison. She was ordered to leave the CNMI at her own expense, among other conditions.
