Bangladesh Citizen Sentenced to 14 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing a Stolen Firearm

Saipan, CNMI – SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), announced that the United States District Court for the NMI ordered 14 months imprisonment for MD Ikbal, age 37, a citizen of Bangladesh living on the island of Rota, after being convicted of Illegal Alien in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A).  Ikbal will enter deportation proceedings following his release from prison.

During June 2016, Ikbal arrived in the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands (CNMI) pursuant to a CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) visa.  A CW-1 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows employers in the CNMI to apply for permission to employ individuals who are otherwise ineligible to work under other nonimmigrant worker categories.  Following the expiration of his visa in January 2017, Ikbal remained on the island of Rota without lawful immigration status.  In October 2021, Ikbal entered the home of another without permission and threatened to kill occupants.  Ikbal was subsequently charged in local court for trespassing and assault, then released on bail.

During May 2022, police on Rota received a report that Ikbal was in possession of a firearm.  Officers from the CNMI Department of Public Safety searched the island for Ikbal.  After nine hours, they located Ikbal hiding in a jungle area, armed with a stolen .40 caliber handgun containing a fully loaded magazine.  The firearm was a service weapon issued to a Rota police officer.  The gun was reported stolen a week prior.

“Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from possessing firearms and ammunition except in limited circumstances,” stated United States Attorney Anderson.  “These cases will be aggressively prosecuted by our office in an effort to keep our communities safe from gun crime.” 

The CNMI Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case.

Assistant United States Attorney Albert S. Flores Jr. in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands prosecuted this case.