A 19-year-old girl who faced three criminal charges in a drug case will be sentenced today. Elsarina Lefatia of Futiga was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of the controlled substance of methamphetamine and prohibited place of consumption.

When Lefatia made her initial appearance in the District Court in October last year there was a heavy presence of officers for security purposes following the defendant’s arrest.

In a plea agreement with the government, she has pled guilty to unlawful possession of the controlled substance methamphetamine. In return for her plea, the government moved for the court to dismiss the remaining charges in this matter.

Chief Justice Michael Kruse accepted the plea agreement and scheduled sentencing for today. During the plea hearing the defendant was told that both sides are free to make their own sentencing recommendations by counsel, but the recommendations are not binding on the court, which has the sole responsibility for determining an appropriate sentence within the limits of the law.

The defendant said she also understands and accepts that she will not be allowed to withdraw her plea of guilty should the court decree a different sentence than that recommended by counsel. 

The case stems from an incident near the Western District substation in October 2014 where a black truck without a license plate continued to Futiga before pulling into the driveway of “Le Aute” — a known billiard hall, however, due to safety reasons the officers did not pursue the chase.

Later Lefatia was taken into custody for alleged underage drinking and during an inventory of Lefatia’s bag that she had with her, police discovered a large amount of cash (approximately USD $4,900) a crystalline substance that tested positive for meth or “ice”.

Coincidentally this arrest preceded a series of drug and gun incidents in the Leone/Lepuapua area beginning with a drive-by shooting at the Leone Police Substation on Nov. 1 just a few days after Lefatia’s arrest.  Then on December 27, another traffic stop resulted in ice, money and hidden paraphernalia being confiscated in Leone just prior to the shooting that injured Police Officer Time Loia in the early morning hours of Dec. 28.

While there is no concrete evidence that these incidents are related, as well as no arrests or public disclosure by the local authorities, there has been a lot of speculation and talk in the community that the two shootings last year were drug related, with allegations that the drug dealers don't want police raiding their operations.

Sen. Galeai M. Tu’ufuli said in an interview last week with Samoa News that the issue of the drug problem in American Samoa "is a serious one and must be addressed by the administration." The Fono, in turn, will provide whatever support is needed, through proper legislation and other means available.

“Drug business is serious and when someone tries to put a stop to it, those operators will react — and in a very bad way — such as making sure that their operations are not stopped by anyone. Drugs are how these operators make money and they will fight back if there is any interference,” Galeai said.