A habitual offender pleaded guilty yesterday for burglarizing the home of lawyer Joseph Taijeron and his wife in Garapan. Benjamin Bok Lee, 28, will be sentenced on July 3 at 9am.<\/p>\n
Under the plea deal, Lee will be sentenced to prison between three years and 10 years, pay a possible fine of up to $10,000, and pay restitution to the victims.<\/p>\n
Lee broke into the house of Taijeron and his wife, Jamika, in Garapan and stole items on Aug. 2, 2017.<\/p>\n
Assistant attorney general Jonathan Robert Glass Jr. prosecuted the case. Assistant public defender Nancy Dominski is counsel for Lee. Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja is presiding. <\/p>\n
According to a police report, Jamika Taijeron had just left her purse on a table in their home\u2019s dining area when she later discovered it was gone and the front sliding door was open. Taijeron immediately called her husband.<\/p>\n
She then checked the surveillance camera of a neighbor that captured the suspect\u2019s car and she posted the car\u2019s photo on her Facebook account. That led to Lee\u2019s identification and arrest on Aug. 21, 2017.<\/p>\n
Joseph Taijeron, a lawyer with the House of Representatives, told police that a day or two prior to the burglary, Lee approached him at his house and told him he lived in that same house a while back. Lee then left.<\/p>\n
Police said that, soon after his arrest, Lee confessed to the crime and disclosed that he sold some of the stolen items and played poker.<\/p>\n
In August 2017, Lee, who is also a self-confessed drug addict, was slapped with a three-year prison term for robbing a student who had just gotten out of school at Mt. Carmel School in Chalan Kanoa and was injured after he was dragged by the defendant\u2019s car by 50 feet.<\/p>\n
Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo said after completing the three-year prison term, Lee would be placed on supervised probation for four years and that he may apply for parole.<\/p>\n
A day before the sentencing in the Chalan Kanoa robbery case, Lee was arrested in As Lito in connection with the burglary at the Taijeron\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 1, 2017, Lee allegedly shattered the window of a vehicle where his wife was with their child and her friend at the entrance of Coral Ocean Point in Koblerville. He also allegedly repeatedly punched his wife\u2019s male friend.<\/p>\n
At a preliminary hearing, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found no probable cause to charge Lee and dismissed without prejudice the charges. Dismissal without prejudice means the government may re-file the charges in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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