A United States District Court in New Jersey ordered the deportation Monday of a Filipino man for making fake passports in order to smuggle fellow nationals to the US, ABS-CBN's "Balitang America" reported.
Right after the court sentenced Roehl Rivera Monday morning to time served in jail, immigration authorities immediately whisked him off to the Newark-New Jersey airport for a flight to the Philippines.
Manolo Tolentino, Rivera's lawyer, said his client pleaded guilty last year to one count of human smuggling. Rivera is from Nueva Ecija province in the Philippines.
Rivera served 18 months at the Passaic County jail while awaiting sentencing.
Calderon, meanwhile, was slapped with a 26-month jail term.
The Filipino and his co-conspirator and cousin, Enrico Calderon, were convicted for selling at least 50 fake Micronesian passports to Filipinos.
Holders of Micronesian passports can enter the US without visas.
Calderon was a former Micronesian embassy employee.
The Micronesian embassy clarified that it never employed Rivera.
Trail leads to diplomatCalderon was a driver for the Micronesian embassy in Washington D.C.
He and Rivera were arrested and indicted last year for illegally bringing more than 50 Filipinos to the US.
Federal prosecutors said the two sold fake Micronesian passports for up to $15,000 (about 700,000 Philippine pesos) each.
The passports were allegedly supplied by a Micronesian diplomat Calderon worked for in Washington.
During the sentencing, Rivera and Calderon spoke before the judge and asked for forgiveness. They, however, offered no clear explanations for their actions.
Following the sentencing, Rivera's family said they were elated at the judge's decision.
Calderon, meanwhile, may be facing a new legal battle that involves the Micronesian government.
On May 14, the government of the Federated States of Micronesia filed criminal charges against Calderon and former ambassador Jesse Marehalau.
They were charged with alleged criminal conspiracy and violations of Micronesia's financial management regulations. With a report from Lenn Almadin-Thornhill
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