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9-month jail for woman in “ice” case
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Posted on Oct 04 2000
A Saipan woman was sentenced yesterday in the U.S. District Court to nine months in prison for dealing with crystal methamphetamine or “ice” amounting to 1.7 grams.
Vivian Hocog Lizama, 39, was also ordered to be placed under three years of supervised release immediately after completing her jail term.
A resident of San Jose, Ms. Lizama pled guilty in June to one count of distribution of the controlled substance, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and fine of up to $1 million if convicted.
District Judge Alex R. Munson handed down a lighter penalty after the prosecution recommended a downward departure from the sentencing guideline due to her substantial assistance.
He also waived fines, but required her to pay $100 in assessment fee. Conditions for Ms. Lizama’s sentence include drug treatment program and counseling as well as 300 hours of community service.
Counsel for the defendant, Danilo Aguilar who was appointed by the court, was pushing for a sentence of one-day jail term and supervised release.
The case had previously been kept sealed on the request of the federal government in order not to jeopardize ongoing investigation of other suspects, according to court documents.
Ms. Lizama had copped plea agreement on the information submitted to the court which only indicated that the drug dealing took place on Dec. 17, 1999 in the CNMI.
Her guilty plea had also required the prosecution to drop other charges based on the same incident, court documents said. There were no other details released. (BS)
