A Saipan woman was sentenced yesterday in the U.S. District Court to nine months in prison for dealing with crystal methamphetamine or “ice” amounting to 1.7 grams.<\/p>\n
Vivian Hocog Lizama, 39, was also ordered to be placed under three years of supervised release immediately after completing her jail term.<\/p>\n
A resident of San Jose, Ms. Lizama pled guilty in June to one count of distribution of the controlled substance, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and fine of up to $1 million if convicted.<\/p>\n
District Judge Alex R. Munson handed down a lighter penalty after the prosecution recommended a downward departure from the sentencing guideline due to her substantial assistance.<\/p>\n
He also waived fines, but required her to pay $100 in assessment fee. Conditions for Ms. Lizama’s sentence include drug treatment program and counseling as well as 300 hours of community service.<\/p>\n
Counsel for the defendant, Danilo Aguilar who was appointed by the court, was pushing for a sentence of one-day jail term and supervised release.<\/p>\n
The case had previously been kept sealed on the request of the federal government in order not to jeopardize ongoing investigation of other suspects, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
Ms. Lizama had copped plea agreement on the information submitted to the court which only indicated that the drug dealing took place on Dec. 17, 1999 in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Her guilty plea had also required the prosecution to drop other charges based on the same incident, court documents said. There were no other details released. (BS)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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