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‘Leader’ of group that smuggled ‘ice’ worth $850K pleads guilty
Xi Huang, the alleged leader of a group behind the shipment of 4.9 lbs of methamphetamine or “ice” worth $850,000, has entered a guilty plea in federal court.
At a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Huang pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona accepted Huang’s guilty plea and set the sentencing for July 8, 2016 at 9am.
Manglona vacated the jury trial of the defendant set for April 26, 2016.
After the hearing, Huang was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
According to the minutes of the hearing, attorney Robert T. Torres, counsel for Huang, informed the court that the U.S. government would be withdrawing the plea agreement that the defendant had signed.
Torres said the defendant, however, was willing to proceed with an open plea and would be entering a guilty plea.
Assistant U.S. attorney Garth Backe stated that the sentence recommended in the proposed plea agreement was in exchange for certain things.
Backe said Huang was not willing to uphold one of the conditions, which was as an agreement that the other co-defendant was a co-conspirator.
Backe said the court should find that Huang is not entitled to a reduction in prison sentence, reject the plea deal, and then proceed with the change of plea hearing.
The defense did not object.
Manglona then advised Huang that she rejected the plea agreement. The judge informed him of the consequences and legal possibilities of a finding of guilt for the offense.
According to the indictment, Huang and co-defendants Shicheng Cai and Zhaopeng Chen, all Chinese nationals, conspired between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4, 2015, to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
A routine Customs inspection at the Port of Saipan of a 40-foot container from Guangzhou, China, resulted in the discovery of the 4.9 lbs of “ice” hidden in three plastic bags in one of the nine 5-gallon paint containers last Dec. 2.
Joint federal and local enforcers investigated the shipment, resulting in the defendants’ arrest.
