SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — A Filipino-American former government official in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has pleaded guilty to federal theft and bribery charges in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that could land her in prison for up to 20 years.
The case against Maribel Loste, former director of the Child Care and Development Fund, is connected to a separate federal fraud case involving Filipino mother and daughter Clarissa Adlawan and Giselle Butalid, who were sentenced earlier this year for defrauding the CNMI Public School System.
Loste's lawyer, Robert Torres, confirmed the connection in an interview on Thursday.
“Yes, there's a tie-in to that, and the plea speaks to that,” Torres said.
Torres also confirmed that Loste had accepted responsibility for her criminal conduct and was scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 8, 2027, before US District Court Chief Judge Ramona Manglona.
“She took responsibility for this case, for her conduct, and therefore pled guilty,” he said.
Under a plea agreement filed June 25 in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands and unsealed Thursday, 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 felony 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 obtained through the bribery scheme, with the final amount to be determined at sentencing.
According to the plea agreement, Loste used her authority as CCDF director under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs to approve contracts involving Evergreen Learning Inc. and Dice LLC despite knowing their proposals contained false information, including grossly inflated costs.
The scheme began around July 2021 and involved two unnamed individuals living in Kenmore, Washington. 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.
Both individuals were identified as unindicted co-conspirators.
Federal prosecutors and Loste stipulated that the reasonably foreseeable financial loss from the theft offense 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.
Loste admitted accepting payments from an unnamed co-owner of One Legacy in exchange for approving and processing the company's contracts.
One Legacy was also used by Adlawan and Butalid in a separate procurement fraud and money laundering scheme involving PSS.
Adlawan, a US permanent resident originally from the Philippines, and Butalid, a naturalized US citizen also originally from the Philippines, were sentenced on May 6, 2026, to 48 months and 18 months in federal prison, respectively.
According to the US Department of Justice, the women used One Legacy to conceal conflicts of interest and obtain payments for educational materials that PSS never ordered.
They were ordered jointly to pay $548,788 in restitution, while two properties they owned in the Philippines were ordered forfeited.
Federal prosecutors said some of the money obtained through the fraud was used to construct a nine-room house in the Philippines. The women also traveled to the country, stayed in luxury hotels and withdrew substantial amounts of cash.
Loste's plea agreement does not identify Butalid or Adlawan by name or establish that they participated in her charged offenses.
Loste had served as CCDF director since 2008, according to her professional background. Before that, she worked as an infant and toddler education specialist at the CNMI Public School System from 2006 to 2008.
She holds a Master of Arts in Education, specializing in early childhood education and teaching, from California State University, Sacramento.
Torres said Loste's guilty plea reflected her willingness 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.
He said Loste's sentence would depend on several factors, including the seriousness of the offenses, her personal background, deterrence and appropriate punishment.
The US Probation Office will prepare a presentence investigation report, while the amount of restitution Loste may be required to pay remains undetermined.
Federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the applicable sentencing guidelines, but the final decision rests with Manglona.
