HongJiang Yang, a 68-year-old citizen of the People's Republic of China, was sentenced to 30 days in prison by the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands on March 14, 2025. He was found guilty of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and aiding and abetting transportation of illegal aliens. The court also imposed one year of supervised release, 50 hours of community service, and a $100 special assessment fee.
Several co-conspirators were also sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy. Xiaohua Li received one year probation and a $100 mandatory assessment fee. Kun Gao was sentenced to 30 days in prison with additional penalties similar to Yang's. YongBing Tang, ChangCai Dong, YingChun Wu, Yan Juan Hu Taitano, Lee Jesse Omar Reyes, Ramon Jose Quitano Sablan, and Maverick Ryan Iguel Marlik were among others who faced various sentences ranging from time served to imprisonment along with supervised release and community service.
The case stemmed from an incident on July 11, 2023. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Saipan learned that the United States Coast Guard rescued 11 individuals in distress off Rota's coast in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The group included nine PRC citizens and two CNMI residents. An investigation revealed attempts to unlawfully bring non-U.S. citizens into Guam.
The trial evidence showed that two nights before rescue efforts began, an overloaded boat left Saipan heading south but ran out of gas before sunrise due to high seas. Rather than seeking immediate help from authorities when drifting began, those aboard attempted another means by requesting fuel delivery from another vessel which failed. Eventually contacting the U.S Coast Guard led military aircraft from America alongside allied nations conducting searches until locating them at dusk followed by midnight rescue via Navy helicopter.
"Attorney General Bondi has made immigration enforcement the highest priority," said United States Attorney Shawn N. Anderson emphasizing federal partnerships' role against unlawful migration ensuring sea safety while urging public cooperation reporting such crimes through Homeland Security Investigations channels.
"The sentencing highlights ICE-HSI’s commitment against smuggling efforts preventing evasion federal immigration law," stated Lucy Cabral-DeArmas Special Agent Charge HSI underscoring protection borders enforcing authority amid human smuggling dangers inherent within these crimes.
This investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations with prosecution handled by Assistant United States Attorney Eric S O'Malley representing District Northern Mariana Islands jurisdictional proceedings throughout case lifecycle involving aforementioned defendants charged accordingly under relevant statutes applied during adjudication process concluding resultant judgments rendered per applicable legal frameworks governing actions undertaken respective participants implicated therein subject matter contextually addressed via current judicial disposition outlined above concerning said matter specifically discussed herein text presented format articulated manner stipulated documentation recordation purposes compliance standards procedural adherence mandates dictated regulatory guidelines operative situationally prevailing circumstances delineated correspondingly accurately faithfully comprehensively exhaustively elucidated conclusively definitively explicitly clearly 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