Twins in hit- and-run also plead guilty to burglarizing tourist van

The twin brothers who pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run over a week ago have also pleaded guilty to another criminal case involving burglary of a tourist van.
Anthony Laatman Muña and Vincent Laatman Muña, 23, pleaded guilty last Thursday to burglarizing a tourist van at the Grotto in Marpi.

According to the plea agreement Anthony and Vicente Muña will get a suspended five-year imprisonment sentence each and will both be placed on probation for five years.

The sentence will run concurrent with the sentence imposed in a separate case where both brothers received three years for attempted robbery and hit-and-run.

Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan presided. Vincent Muña was represented by court-appointed counsel Mark Scoggins, while Anthony Muña was represented by assistant public defender Jean Pierre Nogues. The government was represented by assistant attorney general Samantha Vickery.

Both defendants will be jointly liable for payment of all restitution to the tour operator in an amount to be determined later.

According to court documents, Vicente Muña burglarized a van belonging to Saipan Adventures on April 25, 2018.

Anthony Muña drove Vicente Muña to the Grotto, where Vicente Muña broke into the van by throwing a rock through the van’s window and then took cell phones and personal items belonging to the tourists and the tour operator.

When Vicente Muña got off the van, Anthony Muña drove him from the scene.

After their arrest, the Muña brothers confessed their involvement in the burglary, and assisted police by giving information that led to other suspects who committed purse snatching-type robberies in Garapan.

On June 8, 2018, the Muña brothers also attempted to snatch the purse of a tourist but were unsuccessful and ended up hitting her with their car instead.

According to police, the Muña brothers were driving a rented vehicle down Beach Road on June 8, 2018, when they tried to snatch the purses of two female tourists who were walking along the shoulder of the road.

Anthony Muña was the driver and Vicente Muña was in the car’s front passenger seat.

Upon seeing two female pedestrians—Yao Yang and Yanbo Wu—the Muña brothers agreed that Anthony Muña would drive close to the pedestrians and Vicente Muña would grab the purses from the tourists.

Anthony Muña did a U-turn and then drove toward the tourists. Vicente Muña reached from the car and grabbed one of the tourist’s purses but was unsuccessful.

Anthony Muña hit the tourist with the car but did not stop.