An overstaying Chinese tourist who is accused of obtaining his CNMI driver\u2019s license using fraudulent papers pleaded guilty last Tuesday and was slapped with a prison term of seven days, with credit for time served.<\/p>\n
Ercang Yang pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to unlawfully produce an identification document, which carries a maximum penalty of not more than 15 years in prison.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona also placed Yang on one year of supervised release. That included a condition that he will be deported as soon as he is released from prison.<\/p>\n
He was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and $100 special assessment fee.<\/p>\n
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Yang Tuesday last week.<\/p>\n
According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, Yang conspired with another person on July 29, 2019, to obtain a CNMI driver\u2019s license by presenting a falsified U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-797 as evidence of his lawful status in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
With the other person\u2019s assistance, Yang got a fraudulently-obtained CNMI driver\u2019s license on July 29, 2019. He presented the fraudulent driver\u2019s license to a Federal Protective Services inspector last Sept. 10.<\/p>\n
Yang used the driver\u2019s license in working as a taxi driver.<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. attorney Garth Backe appeared as counsel for the U.S. government. David G. Banes served as court-appointed counsel for Yang.<\/p>\n
HSI filed the complaint against Yang for allegedly producing a fraudulently obtained identification document to law enforcement personnel.<\/p>\n
In his affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Homeland Security Investigations special agent Erwin T. Fejeran stated that it was Federal Protective Services inspector Sean White who first encountered Yang.<\/p>\n
Fejeran said White was performing security patrol of federal government facilities last Sept. 10 when he saw a Toyota Camry make an abrupt turn into the shoulder of Chalan Pale Arnold Road adjacent to the Mariana Heights II building and park. <\/p>\n
Fejeran said DHS records confirmed that Yang is a Chinese national who entered the CNMI on Dec. 28, 2015, and was granted CNMI-only conditional parole by U.S. Customs and Border Protection until Jan. 14, 2016. <\/p>\n
Fejeran said Yang overstayed his authorized parole date and is subject for deportation.<\/p>\n
According to the DHS systems, the agent said, the receipt number listed on Yang\u2019s immigration form I-797A was valid but registered to another individual and not assigned to Yang.<\/p>\n
A records check conducted on Yang\u2019s name and date of birth revealed no immigration petitions for him. Based on this result, Fejeran said, it was determined that Yang\u2019s I-797 was fraudulent.<\/p>\n
Mainly through White, HSI agents have lately arrested several overstaying Chinese tourists who were caught driving illegal taxis using driver\u2019s licenses obtained through fraudulent documents. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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