A defense lawyer has asserted that the U.S. government is still making unsubstantiated claims in opposing the continued release of his client, Qiong Lu Pua, a woman who was slapped with a 12-month and one day imprisonment for orchestrating two sham marriages so that her brother and friend could obtain green cards.<\/p>\n
Attorney Mark B. Hanson said the U.S. government continues to make unsubstantiated allegations regarding Pua\u2019s \u201cties to a foreign country, extensive contacts in China, and significant sums of unexplained income.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that these are not new allegations, Hanson said the U.S. government moved for Pua\u2019s detention on the basis of these claims following sentencing, but the court permitted the defendant to remain at liberty, albeit with the additional condition that she surrender her minor son\u2019s passport.<\/p>\n
Hanson discussed the U.S. government\u2019s alleged unsubstantiated claims in Pua\u2019s reply to the prosecution\u2019s opposition to her motion for release from prison pending appeal.<\/p>\n
Pua requested the U.S. District Court for the NMI to allow her release pending the results of her appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.<\/p>\n
Pua is appealing the Ninth Circuit to reverse the U.S. District Court for the NMI\u2019s denial of her motion for a judgment of acquittal.<\/p>\n
In the U.S. government\u2019s opposition, assistant U.S. attorney Russell H. Lorfing disclosed, among other things, that Pua has $70,000 in unexplained income deposited in her account in 2014 and 2015.<\/p>\n
Lorfing said with her money, the defendant has the financial means to flee. He said the defendant\u2019s ties to a foreign country, extensive contacts in China, and the significant sums of unexplained income suggest the real possibility that she is a flight risk.<\/p>\n
In Pua\u2019s reply yesterday, Hanson said Pua has been allowed to travel between Guam and Saipan, through international airports and in possession of her passport.<\/p>\n
Hanson said Pua has never missed a court appearance or failed to comply with her conditions of release.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said Pua has family ties to the Mariana Islands and there is no evidence that she has financial resources to flee even if she wanted to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe record is clear that Mrs. Pua is not a flight risk,\u201d Hanson stressed.<\/p>\n
Pua remained at liberty after the verdict while she awaited sentencing.<\/p>\n
Hanson said for a person to be released pending sentencing, the law requires a court to find \u201cby clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hanson said Pua again remained at liberty pending imposition or execution of her sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other words, she was allowed to remain at liberty pending notification from the U.S. Marshal Service that Bureau of Prisons had designated a facility for her to serve her sentence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pua was sentenced last Jan. 29.<\/p>\n
Hanson said Pua\u2019s circumstances have not changed since the time of the verdict, nor have they changed since the time of her sentencing.<\/p>\n
He said his client has been allowed to remain at liberty because the court has already determined that she is not a flight risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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