HKSAR v. Delante Antonio Jr Arana (also known as Ogabar Eduardo Jagame and Eduardo Jagame Ogabar)

DCCC 59/2016

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 59 OF 2016

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Reasons for Sentence

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Charges and facts

1.The Defendant pleads guilty to 9 charges of breach of deportation order.  The breaches spanned between July 2015 and November 2015. 

2.The Immigration Department record revealed he was the holder of a Philippine passport bearing another name of his; a deportation order against him in such name was issued by the Immigration Department on 5 March 2015 and served to him on 24 March 2015.  He was deported the same day.  Between 24 July 2015 and 16 November 2015, he had entered Hong Kong 9 times by a passport bearing a name of his.  On 21 November 2015, the 9^th occasion, he was arrested and the facts came to light.

3.In 2 cautioned interviews, he said that his current passport in another name of his bore accurate information of him, that before being arrested he had come to Hong Kong on 16 November 2015 by train from Shenzhen for sightseeing, that he had used a false name in his previous passport, and that he had disposed of that passport. 

Personal background and mitigation

4.He is 46 years of age.  His 3 children are in the Philippines in the care of his mother-in-law since the decease of his wife.  He has a previous record for attempted theft by snatching, sentenced in August 2014. 

Sentencing considerations

5.The starting point for a first offender for breach of deportation order is customarily 27 months (HKSAR v Gabriel Malou Lantin [2004] HKCU 1065) and a repeat offender shall receive a higher sentence (HKSAR v Nguyen Tuan Anh [2004] HKCU 44; HKSAR v Pham Van Tuan [2011] HKCU 325; HKSAR v Ta Dinh Son CACC 348/2013). 

6.In HKSAR v Joned Asri CACC 345/2012, the defendant entered Hong Kong unlawfully in breach of a deportation order on 10 occasions, in the space of 20 months, before arrest once and for all.  On his guilty pleas, he was sentenced to 59 months in total.  On appeal, the overall sentence was reduced to 33 months by way of totality. 

Sentencing this Defendant

7.I take a starting point of 27 months for each breach of deportation order.  I reduce it by one-third due to his plea of guilty.  The sentence is 18 months.    There are no other mitigating factors.  I adjust his total sentence by having him serve the 18 months on the 1^st Charge, with 1 month of each other charge made consecutive to other charges.  The overall sentence is 26 months.