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Expired IDs and probation violations top Dist. Court this week

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reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — An overstayer whose Immigration ID expired two years ago has been sentenced to 6 months probation after he pled guilty to public peace disturbance yesterday in District Court.

Alo Tautua admitted to the court that he disturbed the peace last year in December when he, while intoxicated, got in to an altercation with his brother in law.

A condition of his probation includes paying a fine of $100 within 30 days.

Tautua is ordered to remain sober, be law abiding, submit to random testing, and attend alcohol counseling. He  was also ordered to serve 47 days at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) but is credited for time served.

His Immigration ID was supposed to be renewed yesterday after court proceedings.

A probation review is scheduled for May 31.

ELLIOTT SIAUMAU JR

A pretrial conference and a hearing on an Order to Show Cause to revoke/ modify probation for Elliott Siaumau Jr. have both been continued to March 5.

Siaumau Jr is facing multiple charges in three separate cases, one of which goes back to  2017. He also has cases in both the District Court and High Court.

The charges include public peace disturbance and assault.

UMUSAGA PETESA

"You'll have to do better than 'try'," said District Court Judge Fiti Sunia to defendant Petesa Umusaga this past Monday when he appeared for his pretrial conference.

The matter has been continued to March 5.

According to the Immigration Office, Umusaga's ID expired on June 24, 2016 and his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Anna Wells, told the court that her client is currently trying to secure employment so he can get money to pay for his ID renewal.

Sunia wanted a 'realistic' time frame from the defense, on when Umusaga's immigration situation will be resolved.

The court expects that an update will be provided during Umusaga's next court appearance in 5 weeks.