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Man from Samoa convicted of assaulting another with a hammer will be deported

American Samoa High Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who has been convicted of breaking the law again while serving 10-years probation for a similar offense was ordered by the court to depart the jurisdiction of American Samoa after his period of incarceration and remain outside for the balance of the period of his detention.

Alema Onofia appeared in court last week for sentencing, after being convicted of the crime of assault in the second-degree, a class D felony, punishable by an imprisonment term of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Onofia, 36, was convicted of using a hammer to assault another man at the beginning of 2017, while he was serving a 10-year probation, after being convicted in 2013 for using a machete to assault his 43-year-old cousin.

Before Onofia addressed the court, his defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson called two witnesses to the stand, the defendant’s wife and his sister. Both witnesses asked the court to be lenient with Onofia and to give him a chance to return to the family.

The sister also told the court that Onofia was born in Samoa but raised in American Samoa all of his life.

Anderson said that he doesn’t dispute the seriousness of his client’s actions and asked that the court not revoke his client’s 10-year probation but modify conditions of his probation.

“Putting him in jail for a long period of detention will not cure his anger problem, and my client needs to attend an anger counseling program while on probation. I humbly ask your honor not to impose a long period of incarceration for my client,” Anderson said to the court.

However, the government’s attorney pointed out to the court that the defendant was charged with another felony assault, within a 4-year period of his 10-year probation, where he used the same behavior of alcohol and a dangerous weapon to assault yet another person.

The court sentenced Onofia as follows:

For the second-degree assault conviction, the defendant is incarceration for 5 years and execution of the sentence is suspended. He is placed on probation for the period of 5 years under conditions that he serve a period of detention of 20 month at TCF, and he will be credited for the 13 months he has already served. Upon release from detention, he is to depart the territory and remain outside for the period of his probation. He is also ordered to pay the amount of restitution of $179.

The court also ordered that the defendant’s sponsor be held responsible for paying his return fare to Samoa and also the amount of restitution.

In his first criminal case, the court did not revoke his probation but modified its conditions. The additional condition was that the defendant departs American Samoa after his period of detention and remain outside for the remaining period of his 10-year probation.

The court ordered that a copy of the court's decision be delivered to the Immigration Office to ensure the defendant’s name is on their lookout list.