Man pleads guilty to burglary; is sentenced to 10 years in prison

A man who pleaded guilty to burglary in two separate occasions has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Johnny John Basiente, 36, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of burglary for two separate cases before Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo, who sentenced Basiente to 10 years in prison. However, Basiente will only be serving five years as the other five are suspended and will only be imposed if he does not comply with court -imposed conditions once he is released from prison on February 2028 (or if he is granted parole).

The judge also ordered Basiente to pay $2,000 in restitution to QQ Car Rental; $6,760 to Jin Koo Cho; $2,055 to Huaying Zhang; and $625 to Lenard Angodage—who are the victims in his two cases. Basiente was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 and court costs of $100.

Following his release from prison, Basiente will be placed on supervised probation for 10 years and must pay a probation fee of $1,600.

In addition, Basiente will perform 200 hours of community service.

As part of his probation, Basiente was ordered to stay away from Guangzhou Restaurant, QQ Car Rental, Mama’s Store, Hanamitsu Hotel & Spa and New Shin Restaurant. All these establishments are located in Garapan.

As part of Basiente’s plea deal, the CNMI government dropped all remaining charges against him and also agreed not to file criminal charges in other burglary cases.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, the Department of Public Safety responded to a theft incident earlier this year at Guangzhou Restaurant in Garapan and later learned that the suspect in the case was repeat offender Johnny John Basiente, based on surveillance footage.

Basiente was caught inside the restaurant by individuals who were living upstairs and while trying to get away, Basiente and the owners got into a physical altercation.

The victims reportedly sustained minor injuries and Basiente left the scene in a getaway car.

On Feb. 8, 2023, police investigators found Basiente at a home in Dandan, based on the getaway car’s plate number.

During a consent search of the residence, detectives recovered several stolen properties that were later identified by victims of previous burglaries.

Basiente also confessed to multiple crimes he had committed.