A 51-year-old man arrested last November for allegedly selling methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d on Saipan pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance yesterday in the Superior Court. <\/p>\n
Liu Zhia Shan will b sentenced on June 21, 2017.<\/p>\n
The bench trial set for March 6, 2017, was vacated.<\/p>\n
After the hearing, Shan, also known as Papa, was remanded into the custody of the Department of Corrections pending his sentencing.<\/p>\n
The Office of the Attorney General originally charged him with trafficking of a controlled substance and illegal possession of a controlled substance, which carry a total maximum sentence of 30 consecutive years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Last Jan. 17, the OAG removed the charge of trafficking of a controlled substance. <\/p>\n
The remaining count of illegal possession of a controlled substance carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Shan was found in possession of crystal methamphetamine on April 1, 2016, on Saipan.<\/p>\n
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho noted that Shan has no prior conviction.<\/p>\n
Assistant public defender Tillman Clark is counsel for Shan. Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds appeared for the government.<\/p>\n
Members of the CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration Saipan Post of Duty arrested Shan last November.<\/p>\n
Police said a cooperating defendant was able to buy $230 worth of \u201cice\u201d from Shan during a \u201cbuy-walk\u201d operation last April 1 in Chalan Kanoa.<\/p>\n
During the operation, the cooperating defendant met Shan outside a poker arcade in Chalan Kanoa, then the two proceeded to a parking of a store in Chalan Kanoa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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