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Court Report

Translated by Samoa News staff

VA’ATUTI TEVITA JR

A 27-year-old man accused of having sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl, has pled guilty in the High Court to deviate sexual assault, which is a felony punishable by up to 7 years in jail, a fine of $5,000 or both, according to a plea agreement between the government and defense.

As part of the plea, which has been accepted by the court, four other felony counts of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse were dismissed against Va’atuti Tevita Jr., who is scheduled to be sentenced Apr. 13.

Under the plea agreement, Tevita admitted that in September of last year he had sexual intercourse with the victim. Court information states that the Tevita and the victim had been boyfriend and girlfriend for a long period of time before the sexual contact in September. The victim’s family contacted the police after learning about the incident.

Chief Justice Michael Kruse and Associate Judge Fa’amausili Poumele heard the plea hearing, while prosecuting the case was assistant attorney general Bob Pickett and acting Public Defender, Douglas Fiaui, represented the defendant.

FEGAUIA’I SAGOTE

A woman, accused of taking more than $8,000 from a Samoan couple living in New Zealand for tutoring the couple’s children for the test to enter the US Armed Forces has pled guilty to felony stealing, under a plea agreement which was accepted by the High Court.

According to the plea agreement, Fegauia’i Sagote held discussions with the New Zealand couple between September and December of 2015 to provide tutoring services. The couple’s children, whose ages were not identified in court information, are New Zealand citizens, and the children reside in the territory.

Under the plea agreement, read in court, the defendant admitted that she told the couple that she’s a representative of the US Army in American Samoa and she could tutor their children in order for them to enter the US military.

Because of the couple’s hope for their children to enter the US military, they started sending money to the defendant to pay for tutoring services. However, it was later on that the couple learned that the defendant had lied about being a US Army representative, but they had already sent the defendant US $8,000.

Felony stealing is punishable by not more than 7 years imprisonment, a fine of $5,000 or both. Sagote remains in custody and will be sentenced Apr. 13.

UATAU FALANA’I

The High Court has sentenced Uatau Falana’i to serve 5 years behind bars and upon serving the jail term he was ordered to depart American Samoa and to remain outside of the territory for 15 years, which is the length of his probation.

Falana’i had pled guilty last year to felony conspiracy to commit burglary, while two other charges were dismissed. Charges against Falana’i stem from a Dec 23, 2015 incident where he tried to break into a home in the Tafuna area. 

His crime was quickly halted when the homeowner’s son who was sleeping on his grandmother’s grave in front of the house interrupted him. The defendant then took off in a taxi but police later tracked him down with the help of the owner’s son, who knew Falana’i because both played volleyball in their village.

During sentencing, Falana’i sought leniency in sentencing so he could return home to improve his life for a better future. And this was also the recommendation by his attorney, acting Public Defender Douglas Fiaui, but assistant attorney general Gerald Murphy argued for a much stiffer sentence allowed under the law.

Murphy said this is not the first time that Falana’i has been charged with similar crimes and the defendant has yet to learn any lesson from previous offenses.

These stories in the Samoan language were published last week in Lali sections of Samoa News editions.