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Habitual offender gets 7 and a half months for stealing a cellphone
Criminal career began when he was just 14
A habitual offender who has been struggling with drug addiction was slapped with a prison sentence of seven and a half months for stealing a cellphone worth $399 from an employee of a construction company.
Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo sentenced Benigno Muna Sablan last week to one year in prison, all suspended except for seven and a half months, for theft.
Sablan, 35, was given credit for 44 days of time served. It means that he will be released from the Department of Corrections on June 28, 2017.
After completing the prison term, he will be placed on probation for three years. He was required to pay $399 in restitution to the victim and write a letter of apology.
Sablan was also required to complete drug counseling.
Sablan pleaded guilty to theft last Dec. 27 as part of a plea agreement.
According to the Office of the Attorney General, Sablan went to Star Builder’s Construction in San Antonio on Oct. 31, 2016, trying to sell a 5-gallon bucket of paint. When the company’s employee went inside to inquire if the contractor wanted to purchase the used paint, the defendant grabbed the employee’s cellphone on top of her desk and left. A surveillance camera caught him in the act.
At the sentencing hearing last week, assistant attorney general Heather Barcinas, counsel for the government, recommended a sentence of nine months imprisonment “to allow Sablan to realize the consequences of his actions.”
Barcinas said Sablan has been given leniency by the courts in his past criminal cases and that his recent criminal actions show a complete disregard for CNMI laws, a disregard for the safety and prosperity of the community, and the livelihood of his family.
Barcinas said Sablan has been in the criminal justice system since he was just 14 years old and then graduated into the adult system where he was convicted of assault and battery and felony theft.
In addition, the prosecutor said, the defendant had two active criminal cases, but one was dismissed because the victim departed the CNMI.
Assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit, counsel for Sablan, said that her client, who suffers from drug addiction, has admitted wrongdoing and is attempting to better himself.
