A 20-year old man, who was charged in two separate cases involving burglary and stealing, will be sentenced next month after the defendant reached a plea agreement with the government and it was accepted by the court.

In the first case, Melvin Kuresa Eteuati was charged with one count each of second-degree burglary and stealing. He faced identical charges in the second case as well as one misdemeanor count of property damage in the third degree.

Eteuati of Amouli village appeared last Friday morning in High Court for a change of plea hearing, where a plea agreement was publicly read.

Under a plea agreement with the government, Eteuati pled guilty to the burglary count from the first case and stealing in the second case, while the rest of the charges from both cases were dismissed.

According to court information and plea agreement, the charges from the two cases stem from when the defendant broke into a rental home and a store in September 2016.

For his guilty plea to second degree burglary for the first case, Eteuati admitted that he broke into the rental home on Sept. 18, 2016 and stole a laptop, a bag containing education documents, a Philippines passport, cords for cell phones and another bag with $500.

Eteuati admitted the he used the $500 but the other property was hidden in a place near his home, and later returned it to police when he was questioned.

For the guilty plea to stealing for the second case, Eteuati admitted that sometime on Sept. 16, 2016, he broke into the store and stole a bag containing money, two checks, and food stamp vouchers. Court information states the defendant stole $1,080 in cash that was in the bag.

According to the defendant he and his friends used the cash as well as the food vouchers.

Among the many provisions of the plea agreement is that the government will not file a felony charge against the defendant for allegedly escaping while under police custody while the defendant’s case was pending in District Court last year. Instead the government recommended that for this issue the defendant be place on probation.

As previously reported by Samoa News, the defendant was able to get away from Territorial Correctional Facility officers while at the District Court building, and took the stairs to the second floor where he hid in the bathroom. As police carried out a search, Eteuati was able to leave the District Court building, and made his way to the bus stop across the street at the Fagatogo Market place and took a bus to his family in Amouli, where he was later found by police.

When questioned by authorities, Eteuati said he escaped from custody because he was hungry and went to his family.

The plea hearing for Eteuati — who remains in custody and will be sentenced June 30th this year — was presided by Chief Justice Michael Kruse, who was assisted on the bench by Chief Associate Judge Mamea Sala Jr., and Associate Judge Muasau T. Tofili.