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‘Man passed himself off as another for over a decade’
The federal court has found that Virgilio R. Patubo, a Filipino who allegedly impersonated another person in applying for nonimmigrant documents, eluded detection for over a decade while living in plain sight on Saipan.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona said the testimony and information submitted at the detention hearing showed that there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure Patubo’s appearance in court.
Patubo entered the CNMI twice without being detected as a deported alien, the first time within months of his removal from the U.S. after serving his federal sentence of 42 months imprisonment, said Manglona in an order on Tuesday.
The judge said Patubo was able to renew his passport with the Philippines government under his alias, Joseph Roque.
Manglona said the defendant also filed immigration documents with the U.S. government three years in a row before being detected.
“Defendant has shown his ability to access immigration documents and come and go from the CNMI as he pleases,” Manglona said.
The two-day detention hearing was held last Thursday and Friday.
According to the indictment, Patubo impersonated a Joseph Mendiola Roque when applying for a CW-2 visa on Nov. 18, 2011. Patubo also allegedly passed himself off as Roque when applying for a humanitarian parole application on May 19, 2012, and on Feb. 2, 2013.
