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7 charged for attempt to enter Guam
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Posted on Jul 23 1999
The US Attorney’s Office has charged in the US District Court seven persons who were arrested at Laulau Beach on Monday while allegedly attempting to sail to Guam and enter the island illegally.
Prosecutors said the seven were arrested while awaiting the arrival of the 21-foot Bayliner boat that would ferry them to Guam.
Accompanied by their court-appointed lawyers, the seven were summoned by Judge Alex Munson yesterday for preliminary appearance at the court.
Three of those arrested, who allegedly received money to bring the aliens to Guam, were charged with three counts of alien smuggling.
The prosecutors charged that Alexander Christopher Patris, Otiwii Shuiping Xie and Shengqun Cao schemed to smuggle four undocumented Chinese nationals into Guam.
They allegedly received $3,000 each in “smuggling fee” from the four aliens.
The government’s complaint alleged that Patris, Otiwii and Cao had made an arrangement to sail a vessel from Saipan to Guam with Chinese nationals aboard, who would later be dropped off at a designated port.
The conspirators’ alleged “clients” were Zhang Zhen Juan, He Xiao Li, Huang Xiu Mei, and Huang Yu Lan, who were charged separately with “attempted improper entry.”
The complaint stated that the four “hid in bushes” while awaiting the arrival of the boat that would ferry them to their destination.
The arrest of the seven came less than a month after federal and local authorities sent back to China more than 500 undocumented aliens, who were held for several weeks at a tent city on Tinian.
A total of 30 Chinese nationals were charged earlier in connection with this activity. Many of them recently pled guilty to alien smuggling charges. (MCM)
