Former Child Care and Development Fund director Maribel Loste has accepted responsibility for her involvement in a multimillion-dollar federal fraud and bribery scheme that could land her in prison for up to 20 years, according to her lawyer, Robert T. Torres.
In an interview with Marianas Press last Thursday, Oct. 29, Torres confirmed that Loste pleaded guilty to two federal felony charges involving theft of government funds and bribery, and is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 8, 2027.
“She took responsibility for this case, for her conduct, and therefore pled guilty,” Torres said.
Under a plea agreement filed June 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands and unsealed Thursday, Oct. 29, Loste agreed to plead guilty to aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds and bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, for a combined statutory maximum of 20 years and $500,000 in fines.
Loste also agreed to forfeit at least $105,000 in proceeds from the bribery scheme, with the final amount to be determined at sentencing.
According to the plea agreement, Loste used her position as CCDF director to approve contracts involving Evergreen Learning Inc. and Dice LLC, knowing their proposals contained false information, including grossly inflated costs.
The scheme began around July 2021 and involved two unnamed individuals who benefited from the contracts. One was Loste's longtime friend who co-owned Evergreen and Dice and operated Language and Literacy Education and Professional Services, or LEAPS, in Washington state.
The two individuals, who lived together in Kenmore, Washington, were identified as unindicted co-conspirators in the plea agreement.
For the theft charge, Loste and federal prosecutors stipulated that the reasonably foreseeable financial loss exceeded $3.5 million but was less than $9.5 million.
The bribery charge involved One Legacy LLC, which received approximately $1.41 million in CCDF contract payments between 2022 and 2024.
According to the plea agreement, Loste accepted payments from an unnamed individual who co-owned One Legacy in exchange for approving and processing the company's contracts.
The payments ranged from $72,000 to $120,000 for the first contract and its extension, $22,000 to $36,000 for another contract, and $11,000 to $36,000 for a third.
One Legacy is also the company involved in the separate federal procurement fraud case against former Public School System employee Giselle Butalid and her mother, Clarissa Adlawan.
Federal prosecutors said Butalid and Adlawan used One Legacy to defraud PSS through fraudulent procurement transactions involving educational materials.
The government identified $262,788 in proceeds subject to forfeiture, while the two women were ordered jointly to pay $548,788 in restitution.
Butalid and Adlawan were sentenced May 6 to 18 months and 48 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the PSS fraud case.
Torres confirmed a connection between Loste's case and the Butalid-Adlawan prosecution.
“Yes, there's a tie-in to that, and the plea speaks to that,” he said.
Loste's plea agreement does not identify Butalid or Adlawan by name, but identifies One Legacy and an unnamed co-owner in connection with the CCDF bribery transactions.
Torres said Loste's guilty plea reflected her decision to accept responsibility rather than proceed to trial.
“It's not about remorse, it's about accountability and accepting responsibility when you've done wrong,” he said.
Asked whether Loste faces imprisonment, Torres acknowledged the seriousness of the offenses but said the court must consider several factors, including her background, the nature of the offenses, deterrence, and appropriate punishment.
He said the U.S. Probation Office will prepare a presentence investigation report before sentencing. The amount of restitution Loste may be required to pay also remains undetermined.
Federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the applicable sentencing guidelines, although Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona will determine the final sentence.
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