10-year jail time for man who stabbed businessman

Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona has imposed a 10-year jail term on a deportable alien who seriously injured a businessman by stabbing him with a knife.

In a written judgment issued on Thursday, Manglona ordered Ming Nan Jin to spend the maximum permissible term of 10 years in prison for the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon.

The judge gave the 36-year-old Jin credit for the time he already served in jail from March 20, 2007, to the present.

Manglona required the defendant to pay a $4,977.59 restitution to the victim, Eun Soo Han, for his medical expenses.

She also directed Jin to pay a $100 court assessment fee.

A review hearing was set for March 23, 2011, to determine whether the defendant has complied with all the terms of his sentence.

In March 2007, the Attorney General’s Office charged Jin with attempted second degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault and battery.

The defendant and counsel, assistant public defender Richard Miller, signed a plea agreement with the government represented by assistant attorney general Timothy Connor.

Jin pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon. The remaining charges were dismissed.

In her order, Manglona said Jin is a single, 36-year-old who speaks Korean but whose nationality is Chinese.

Jin worked on a farm before coming to the CNMI.

Manglona said because the victim was able to obtain prompt medical assistance, he survived the attack.

Manglona said according to the investigating detective’s declaration, the victim was observed with knife cut wounds to the right arm and stomach area with protracting intestines.

The judge said the declaration indicates that the victim’s wife witnessed the stabbing of her husband.

If convicted of the crime of attempted murder, Jin was facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.

If the court exercised its discretion under the CNMI laws, Manglona said, it could have denied Jin’s eligibility for parole during the entire term, thereby subjecting the defendant to actual incarceration for the entire 20-year sentence.

She said that by entering into the plea agreement, the defendant avoids the higher sentence and may still avoid serving the full 10-year prison term if he is granted parole by the Board of Parole.

“It is the understanding of this Court that the Board will not allow a release unless the issue of restitution is addressed. Therefore, this Court has opted to defer to the Board,” Manglona said.

Furthermore, she pointed out, because Jin is a non-U.S. citizen with such a serious felony conviction, he will most likely be subject to deportation proceedings after his release, regardless of the actual amount of time he serves.

Manglona said it was after she accepted Jin’s guilty did she learn that two months prior to committing this vicious crime, Jin was ordered deported from the CNMI.

Police said investigation showed that on Feb. 12, 2007, at noon Jin came to the apartment room of victim Han, at Kaepoong Building in central Garapan.

Jin confronted Han. During the commotion, Jin stabbed the businessman repeatedly with a knife.

Although injured, Han managed to run to an adjacent room. Jin fled the scene. On March 20, 2007, police arrested Jin.

A witness identified Jin as the boyfriend of the victim’s employee. The witness told police that Jin appeared intoxicated at that time.

Court records also show that in October 2006, Immigration agents arrested Jin for allegedly overstaying in the CNMI.

According to the Immigration, Jin applied for a student entry permit under the Saipan University, but it was never approved because the university never existed.

Labor issued a temporary work authorization for Jin on Dec. 17, 2003. On June 16, 2005, Labor issued a memorandum to allow the respondent to look for a permanent employer and submit application for a one-year nonresident worker entry permit.

Jin failed to submit such application, according to an Immigration investigator.