“MAMA” CASE BOUND OVER TO THE HIGH COURT

District Court Judge Elvis Pila Patea has bound over the government’s case against owner of the Aute Bar, Tumuatutasi Lefataia also known as “Mama” following a preliminary examination (PX) in the District Court yesterday afternoon.

Lefataia is charged with unlawful possession of controlled substance of methamphetamine, which carries a jail term from five to ten years, and a fine between $5,000 and $20,000. She’s also facing three counts of possession of a prohibited weapon and each charge is a class A misdemeanor, punishable with up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both. All the charges were bound over to the High Court.

The court heard from the lead investigator, Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jackie Lagai that police officers executed a search warrant on a house, which contained the Aute Bar, a billiard area, and bedrooms.

In one of the bedrooms, which was occupied by “Mama”, police uncovered live ammunition, along with alleged drug paraphernalia, as well as  three digital scales. The DPS officer further stated that a glass pipe was found containing a substance, which later tested as methamphetamine. Also found in the search was $4,184 in cash.

During cross examination, Fiti Sunia, defense counsel for Lefataia, asked Sgt. Lagai, if she had discovered the drugs found, and she responded “no”. Asked if she conducted or was present when the field test for the drugs was conducted, she said “no”. She was also asked if she was involved in transporting Lefataia to the police station and she gave the same answer, “No”.

Sunia then asked Sgt. Lagai if she agreed that the $4,000+ cash that was found was not drug affiliated.  Assistant Attorney General Tiffany Oldfield pointed out that the question was not relevant to the probable cause hearing.

On the issue of bail, Sunia argued that the defendant is not a flight risk and given that this is another ordinary methamphetamine case with a single count of possession and three misdemeanor charges, and there is no evidence of guns and no evidence that defendant was selling drugs — a reasonable bail would be $15,000 cash.

However, Assistant AG Oldfield argued that bail should remain at $50,000 cash, given the circumstances of the case: There were three different types of ammunition found which indicates that there are guns involved, that the case found over $4,000+ with hundreds of ones, and that indicates the money was from the sale of drugs. She further noted that the defendant is a flight risk and that bail should stay at $50,000.

Patea denied Sunia’s motion, noting that the ammunition found came from three different guns, which are still at large and that does constitute a safety issue.

Patea however amended the bail noting that only $20,000 in cash would be required, while the $30,000 could be surety bonds. He pointed out to the defense that if they bring in three vehicles for the value of $30,000, “it will not fly with the High Court.”

DOE EMPLOYEE ADMITS TO STEALING GOVERNMENT PAYROLL CHECK

Selapi Tuiteleleapaga will be sentenced next month after she admitted to stealing a payroll check from Lupelele Elementary School. Tuiteleleapaga was initially facing charges of stealing and embezzlement, however in a plea agreement with the government, defendant pleaded guilty to stealing which carries a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. In return for her guilty plea the government moved for the court to dismiss the remaining charge.

According to the government’s case, on Nov. 10, 2014 the Attorney General’s office was informed a check issued to a DOE employee at Lupelele Elementary School was stolen on Sept.  22, 2014, in the amount of $1,131.97.

It’s alleged the defendant, who was the Lupelele School secretary, had picked up the payroll checks for their school along with the school’s vice principal.

Court filings say that on the same day, the vice principal left the office briefly and asked Tuiteleleapaga to verify if all staff checks were there.

According to the government’s case, when the Vice Principal returned and checked the checks herself she realized that victim’s check was missing from the folder and the check did not turn up the following week. It’s alleged that on Sept. 29, 2014 a request was made for Treasury to place a stop payment order on the check—however it was too late, as the defendant had already cashed the check.

According to court filings, the check was cashed at a store in Ili’ili with the defendant’s name on it. On Oct. 10, 2014, defendant apologized in a letter to the DOE Director, where she admitted that she cashed the check by endorsing it in her name and cashing it.

The investigator interviewed the defendant at the AG’s office and Tuiteleleapaga admitted taking the payroll check at the DOE headquarters and hiding it during the distribution of staff checks. She further admitted that she signed the check using her own name, and she used the money.