Judge: The purpose in creating sanctuaries must be enforced

Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona said that the Legislature’s purpose of creating a sanctuary to gradually and naturally repopulate depopulated areas of the lagoon must be enforced in order to protect the islands’ limited and precious resources.

For this reason, Manglona insisted on additional terms before accepting a plea agreement between the Attorney General’s Office and defendant Zhen Hua Guo to deter the latter from committing the same crime.

Guo had pleaded guilty to taking fish and lobster from the Grotto sanctuary in Marpi.

After considering Manglona’s concerns, the AGO and Guo agreed to accept additional terms imposed for the defendant’s conviction.

Manglona sentenced Guo to six months in jail, all suspended except for the first nine days, with credit for the nine days he has already served.

The judge placed the defendant on six months of unsupervised probation and ordered him to pay a $25 court assessment fee.

Manglona required the defendant to return to court for a review hearing on May 21, 2008, to determine if he is complying with all the terms and conditions of his sentence.

The government, through the AGO, charged Guo and Shunjin Mo with taking wildlife in a sanctuary area after a Fish and Wildlife conservation officer caught them taking fish and lobster from the Grotto sanctuary on March 12, 2008.

Guo and counsel Glenn A. Jewell signed a plea agreement with the government, represented by assistant attorney general Tim Connor.

In accepting the defendant’s guilty plea, Manglona said that Guo has pleaded guilty to a rarely committed offense.

Manglona said it is a crime that does not involve the infliction of any bodily injury to another person or the damage of property of another person.

“It is nevertheless a crime because it is a conduct that the Commonwealth Legislature has deemed worthy of restricting for the benefit of the public interest in conserving and protecting our natural resources,” the judge pointed out.

The AGO and Guo had initially reached an agreement that contemplated a sentence of time served only—nine days in this case. There were no other conditions to be imposed.

Manglona, however, rejected the parties’ disposition and expressed a need for additional terms.

Manglona said that based on the admitted evidence, Guo was found with fish and lobster at the Grotto sanctuary.