Court closes deportation case vs Palauan with 10 convictions

The Superior Court on Tuesday closed a deportation case against a Palauan man who has 10 criminal convictions, including copper wire theft.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman closed deportation proceedings against Sumang Stanger Riungel after the respondent departed the CNMI on April 3.

Riungel had signed an agreement with the Division of Immigration in December 2008 for his deportation to Palau.

“There will be no proceedings in this case,” said the judge, as he removed the case from the court’s docket.

Riungel was among a group of men who were arrested in 2007 for stealing copper wires from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s water sites in Sadog Tasi.

Immigration filed last year a deportation case against Riungel based on his conviction for eight misdemeanors and two felonies. Riungel did not challenge the deportation and agreed to go.

An order of deportation is a permanent ban from the CNMI.