Gen. Garcia's sons sentenced to time served in US

CHICAGO – A United States District Court has sentenced to time served the two sons of a retired Philippine military general who were accused of smuggling $100,000 into the United States seven years ago. The sentence on Juan Paulo Garcia and Ian Carl Garcia was handed down by US District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the Northern District of California in San Francisco on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). Time served, in criminal law, describes a sentence where the defendant is credited immediately after the guilty verdict with the time spent in remand awaiting trial. The time is usually subtracted from the sentence, with only the balance being served after the verdict Aside from the time served, Judge Patel also sentenced the Garcias to two-year probation. “[The sentence] is fair and we are not going to appeal," said private defense lawyer Julia Mezhinsky Jayne, counsel for Juan Paulo. Ian Carl’s lawyer, Richard Tamor, has yet to comment about the court’s decision. During the hearings, it was established that Juan Paulo and Ian Carl had already each served 108 days in custody in connection with the case, and approximately a year and a half on electronic monitoring with no prior criminal contacts. The siblings had pleaded guilty to bulk cash smuggling charges two months ago, which meant they admitted smuggling $100,000 into the US on a flight from Manila in December 2003. The status hearing of their extradition case is set on Jan. 26, 2011, before US Magistrate Judge Edward M. Chen at the US Northern District Court of California. Meanwhile, the extradition of their mother, Clarita Garcia, 59, also implicated in the cash smuggling case, is pending before the US Eastern District of Michigan Judge George Caram Steeh, while the status hearing of the extradition of their other brother, Timothy Mark Garcia, is scheduled on Jan. 12, 2011 before US District Court Judge Richard Holwell of Southern District of New York. Their father, Carlos Garcia, a former comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is currently detained in Manila and facing an unbailable offense of plunder before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. He was accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth in the form of funds, landholdings and other real and personal properties in the amount of P303 million that was deemed “disproportionate to" his legitimate income. Agreement Jayne said the sentence was based on the agreement “among the US Attorney, the probation officer and the defense lawyers." “The judge did not digress from the agreement," she added. The $100,000 smuggled into the US was confiscated by the court, which also did not fine the Garcias. Jayne did not comment on the request of the Philippine government for the US government to return the $100,000 to them. In his sentencing memorandum filed last Nov. 22, Tamor asked the court “to impose a fair and just sentence of time served of three months and 13 days in custody, two years of supervised release, and forfeiture of any interest in seized property." The US Probation Office “took into consideration a variety of factors at play in Mr. Ian Garcia's case, including his absolutely blameless life prior to and after his offense, his three and one half (3 1/2) months of custody in North County Jail (in Oakland, California) and his over 18 months on home detention with electronic home monitoring." The defense also joined the Probation Officer’s “recommendation and submits that a time served sentence with two years of supervised release is sufficient to adequately impress upon Mr. Ian Garcia the seriousness of his conduct, while addressing some of the sentencing objectives of just punishment, rehabilitation and deterrence." Assistant US Attorney Hartley M. K. West noted in a memorandum that the Garcias admitted smuggling $100,000 into the US “with the intent to evade the United States’ currency reporting requirements." “Juan Paulo signed a United States Customs Form 6059B, on behalf of himself and his brother, in which he falsely stated that they were not carrying more than $10,000 in currency. Upon arrival, both Garcias falsely advised a United States Customs and Border Protection Officer at the San Francisco International Airport that they were carrying a total of $1,000," part of the memorandum read. It further said, “The government believes that the sentence of time served and two years’ supervised release, which it agreed to recommend in the plea agreement, is reasonable and appropriate under all of the circumstances." - KBK, GMANews.TV