A man accused of criminal sexual conduct and driving while under the influence of alcohol is being transferred into the custody of federal officials for deportation.
Biten Keimen, who is also known as Biten Keimen Tisa or Peten Tisa, was arrested in 2010 and serving seven years in prison with credit for time served. He was sentenced in 2012 for three separate cases:
- CF:304-10: Four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, as a first-degree felony
- CM575-10: driving while under the influence of alcohol
- CM1112-09: driving while under the influence of alcohol
He was scheduled to be released from prison in May 2017.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on Keimen, a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, because his crimes made him eligible for deportation. The Governor commuted the remainder of Keimen’s sentence and with that the Department of Corrections will transfer Keimen into the custody of U.S. immigrations. The federal agency will then begin the deportation process.
Keimen would be the 16th criminal either removed or deported as part of the Governor’s initiative to protect the safety of our island’s residents. The initiative also has allowed the government to save hundreds of thousands of dollars. It costs the Department of corrections about $119 a day to house each inmate and detainee. That rounds up to about $43,435 per person, each year.