Two sentenced in Guam court for alien smuggling

Romualdo Enusban, 58, and Lolita Cunan, 59, both Philippine citizens, were sentenced on April 17, 2014, in the District Court of Guam by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, for alien smuggling and aiding and abetting false statement respectively, according to Alicia A.G. Limtiaco, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Enusban was sentenced to a 10-month prison term and will be deported back to the Philippines. Cunan was sentenced to a three-year probationary period. A money judgment of forfeiture was also ordered against Enusban in the amount of $16,800.

According to the indictment, from about August 2012 until March 24, 2013, Enusban devised a scheme to bring co-defendants Irish Danica Bautista and Ofelia Gonzalez from the Philippines to Guam. While in the Philippines, Enusban generated Bautista and Gonzales’ C-1 visas in exchange for cash. A C-1 visa allows a non-immigrant to enter the United States for the purpose of transiting to a foreign location. Under a C-1 visa, an alien has up to 29 days to transit the U.S. to a foreign location. A person’s failure to do so would constitute an overstay on their C-1 status. Enusban planned that Bautista and Gonzales enter Guam under the C-1 visa, and intended that they travel to Las Vegas, NV, which was a violation of the C-1 visa program.

On March 21, 2013, Enusban accompanied Bautista and Gonzales on a flight from Manila to Guam, a flight purchased by Enusban’s travel agency. Enusban further sought the assistance of his stepsister, Cunan. Cunan assisted in the fabrication of an invitation letter in support of Bautista’s and Gonzales’ transit to Pohnpei, and gave the letter to Enusban. Cunan also assisted by purchasing one-way airline tickets to Las Vegas for Bautista and Gonzales, knowing that Bautista and Gonzales intended to illegally remain in the U.S. in violation of their immigration status.

Bautista and Gonzales entered their guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit visa fraud and were sentenced on Sept. 4, 2013, to a one-year probationary period and both voluntarily returned back to the Philippines.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Leon Guerrero. (USAO)