Sagana to appeal sentence to 9th Circuit

Bonifacio Sagana, through attorney Richard Miller, has notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that he intends to appeal the sentence the U.S. District Court for the NMI had imposed on him.

Sagana, 58, also notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that he also intends to appeal the court’s decision to deny his motion for a new trial.

“Pursuant to Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, notice is hereby given that defendant Bonifacio Vitug Sagana, by and through court-appointed counsel, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the amended judgment which [was] issued on Dec. 20, along with all interlocutory orders and rulings prior to, during, and after trial…,” states the notice.

Sagana, who was unanimously found guilty of conspiring with Bernadita Zata to illegally produce a CNMI driver’s license, was sentenced to 24 months in prison last week, following an over three-hour long sentencing hearing.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona gave Sagana credit for time served. His sentence will be followed by a term of three years of supervised release.

Sagana, who had fled to Wisconsin but was brought back to the CNMI to face federal charges, was allowed to remain under conditional release until he is placed in one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ facilities.

Sagana’s sentence includes 50 hours of community service.

According to court documents, the U.S. District Court for the NMI issued an arrest warrant for Sagana following a grand jury indictment back on Jan. 31, on the charge of conspiring with others to unlawfully produce a CNMI driver’s license.

However, Sagana left the CNMI before he could be arrested and was only taken into custody last May 16 in Wisconsin.

Sagana was allegedly identified by other defendants facing the same charges as the person who arranged for them to fraudulently obtain a CNMI driver’s license using a counterfeit U.S. immigration visa number.