Arrest warrant out for man in scheme to illegally transport Chinese men to Guam

The U.S. District Court for the NMI has issued an arrest warrant for one of the four men who allegedly conspired to illegally transport Chinese nationals from Saipan to Guam. All four are currently out on bail.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona approved yesterday the U.S Probation Office’s petition for an arrest warrant against Lee Jesse Omar Reyes, who has allegedly failed to comply with his release conditions and has tested positive for methamphetamine use.

In her petition for the revocation of Reyes’ pre-trial release, probation officer Juanette David-Atalig claims that Reyes has failed to report to a noncompliance meeting, failed to contact her, and, since being placed on pretrial release, has allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine once and failed to submit to five more drug tests.

Last Jan. 23, a grand jury handed down an indictment alleging Reyes and three others conspired to transport Chinese nationals from Saipan to Guam by boat in an illegal scheme that would allow these aliens to bypass U.S. immigration. On that date, Magistrate Judge, Heather L. Kennedy issued an arrest warrant that was executed on Jan. 29.

On Jan. 30, Reyes made his initial appearance before Manglona. The court released Reyes on a $1,000 unsecured bond with conditions to include pretrial supervision and random drug testing.

On Feb. 13, the court granted David-Atalig’s request to modify the defendant’s conditions of release, to include substance abuse treatment after the defendant admitted to using methamphetamine on Feb. 4.

Reyes also changed his plea that day and the court ordered that he remain in contact with David-Atalig.

On Feb. 23, a petition for action was filed in court after Reyes failed to report that his sweat patch “came off.”

The petition states he also failed to call his supervising officer on Feb. 21 and 23 as instructed.

On Feb. 28, David-Atalig said she conducted an unannounced home visit where she instructed Reyes to report to the U.S. Probation Office that day for a noncompliance meeting and testing. He was also advised to call the officer in the event he could not report on time.

“The defendant failed to report for the meeting, and he failed to contact this officer. Since being placed on pretrial release, the defendant tested positive for methamphetamine once and failed to submit to five drug tests. The defendant appears to be struggling with complying with the supervision conditions imposed by the court. The defendant has checked in via telephone three times and tested negative once,” states the petition.

Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona