Hagatña, Guam – SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant Clarence Poch a.k.a. J.M. Irons, age 43, a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was sentenced on September 27, 2022, to nine months, 24 days imprisonment for Attempted Re-entry of Removed Alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. The Court also ordered one year of supervised release following imprisonment and a mandatory $100.00 special assessment fee.
Poch was deported from the United States to the FSM on January 11, 2012, after being convicted of felony domestic assault in Minnesota. He had no permission to return to the United States. Pock later changed his name to J.M. Irons and obtained a new passport, which enabled his travel from Chuuk to Guam. On November 14, 2021, while traveling to Saipan via Guam, federal immigration officials in Guam arrested Poch after determining his identity through biometric data.
“The use of biometric data enables immigration authorities to identify many individuals arriving at our ports of entry,” stated United States Attorney Anderson. “The manipulation of immigration documents will not defeat this technology. Such conduct will only increase our motivation to seek criminal enforcement.”
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The case was prosecuted by Marivic P. David, Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Guam.