Jingbo Chen Sentenced to Jail and Ordered to Pay Fine in Airport Smuggling Case

          Today, SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), announced that defendant JINGBO CHEN, also known as Jingbo San Nicolas or “Kim,” age 43, of Navy Hill, Saipan, was sentenced in District Court to a thirty (30) day term of imprisonment, to be followed by one year of supervised release, for Entering a Secure Area at an Airport by False Pretenses. The Court also ordered CHEN to pay a $2,000 fine and a mandatory $100 assessment fee.

          On August 5, 2016, CHEN was charged by Indictment with Removing Goods from Customs Custody, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 549, and Entering a Secure Area at an Airport by False Pretenses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1036(a)(4) and (b)(1). She entered a guilty plea to an Information charging her with one count of Entering a Secure Area at an Airport by False Pretenses on October 6, 2016. The investigation revealed that CHEN, then an Airport Service Agent for Pacific Oriental Inc. Aviation (POI), went to the Saipan International Airport in her uniform although it was her day off, and made a number of false statements to co-workers prior to entering a secure area of the airport. After entering the secure area, CHEN received a bag from an arriving passenger and took it with her through an access door before it could be inspected by CNMI Customs.

          The investigation was conducted by Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of Task Force Officers from CNMI Customs and the CNMI Department of Public Safety. The case was prosecuted by Garth Backe, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of the NMI.