Previous Story
Woman to enter guilty plea for entering Saipan as tourist in 2015, with intent to give birth
A woman who allegedly entered the CNMI in 2015 as a tourist from China, but the real intent was to give birth, is expected to enter a guilty plea today, Tuesday, in federal court.
Assistant U.S. attorney Garth Backe, counsel for the U.S. government, informed the U.S. District Court for the NMI last Thursday that defendant Lichan Lu signed a plea agreement.
The plea deal was sealed.
Following the plea agreement, Backe requested the court to set this matter for a change of plea hearing for today.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted the U.S. government’s motion and set the hearing for today at 9am.
Last Thursday, Backe filed an information that charged Lu with one count of improper entry into the U.S. by false statement.
According to the charging document, on June 28, 2015, when asked by Customs and Border Protection why she had come to the U.S., Lu stated she had come for tourism purposes, a representation she knew was false and fraudulent, in that she had come to give birth.
Using a tip, Lu was arrested last week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations Saipan personnel saw Lu at the Marina Heights II building in Puerto Rico.
