Man gets 90 days for assaulting park ranger

The federal court yesterday imposed a 90-day prison term on a man who assaulted a park ranger at the Outer Cove Marina area.

After serving his sentence, Prisco Ongrung will be placed on one year of supervised release.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson said that among the conditions of his supervised release is that Ongrung shall provide advance notice by telephone to the American Memorial Park’s personnel of his intention to enter the park for the duration of U.S. Park Ranger Sam Martinsen’s tour of duty.

The judge ordered Ongrung to pay a $202 restitution to the U.S. Department of Labor Worker’s Compensation Program. He also required the defendant to pay a $25 special assessment fee.

Munson remanded Ongrung to the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending the outcome of defendant’s outstanding warrants of arrest issued by the CNMI Superior Court in other cases.

The judge said that if the defendant is released due to a resolution of his cases with the CNMI court, then he shall turn himself in to the U.S. Marshal on May 2, Friday.

The defendant and counsel Kelley Butcher signed a plea agreement with the U.S. government in December 2007. Ongrung pleaded guilty to the lesser-included offense of assault on a federal officer.

According to the plea agreement, on Sept. 12, 2007, the defendant struck Matinsen, a law enforcement park ranger of the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service, in the head. Martinsen suffered injury to the head, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Martinsen was on duty at the time at the American Memorial Park and was attempting to issue a citation to Ongrung.

Ongrung was charged with assault on a federal officer with bodily injury.

Martinsen stated in his report while he was on patrol at the Outer Cove Marina within the boundaries of the American Memorial Park, he saw a pickup truck driven by Ongrung.

Martinsen said he had given Ongrung several warnings in the past for operating his vehicle without a current CNMI driver’s license.

He said the defendant was driving faster than the posted speed limit of 10 miles per hour so he turned around and followed him to a parking lot where he tried to issue a citation to the defendant when the attack happened.