Anchorage, ALASKA — A 31-year old American Samoan man, labeled by federal prosecutors as the “instigator” of a mail theft case in Alaska, was seeking a probative sentence. However, federal prosecutors have concerns with Congress Lepou, being made treasurer of a Samoan church youth ministry “after committing extensive monetary crimes.”

Lepou, who pled guilty last November to conspiracy, theft and possession of stolen mail — is characterized by the defense as a “family man” and “has recommitted himself to God and the community.”

He — along with co-defendants Breadoflife ‘Presley’ Faiupu, 36; Paulo Maae, 24; Hubert Barte, 37; Harold Velicaria, 35; and Rogelio ‘Roger’ Daquis, 49 — were charged early last year at the federal court in Anchorage Alaska.

Lepou was accused of being the leader in the mail theft conspiracy, which involved stealing 60 Apple computers valued at approximately $90,000 and over $100,000 worth of phones and tobacco products from U.S. mail, said prosecutors.

Lepou and Faiupu were supervisors for the rest of the defendants, at RAVN Alaska, a regional airline contracted by the US Postal Service to deliver mail to remote community villages in Alaska.

Lepou appeared yesterday afternoon before US District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason, who sentenced the defendant to 12 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $199,143 in restitution.

DEFENSE ARGUMENTS

Prior to sentencing, Lepou who’s represented by the federal public defender’s office in Anchorage, filed on Apr. 25 its sentencing memorandum, seeking a probative sentence and $199,143 in restitution — the same restitution requested by the government.

According to the defense, Lepou is a “family man with no criminal history” and “grew up in an honorable, stable, and deeply religious family in American Samoa. His community was an extremely tight knit one, where everyone pitched in and looked out for one another.”

“Those close to Mr. Lepou describe him as a family-oriented, respectful, and supportive man, and an excellent father who has always worked to support his family,” the defense said, noting that after Lepou moved to Alaska, he began working for RAVN Alaska.

The defense claimed that Lepou and his colleagues “put in many long, hard hours, with little support or appreciation” from RAVN Alaska management. And he had stopped attending church regularly and “believes he started falling away from God during this time.”

The defense appeared to put blame on the airline as a result of the mail theft, saying that after “much discussion about their dissatisfaction with their employer, Mr. Lepou and some of his co-defendants ultimately decided to take items from the shipments they were loading.”

Additionally, the scope of Lepou’s crime was discovered after he consented to allow investigators to search his vehicle, residence, garage, storage unit, and cell phone, where they found much of the evidence in this case.

Lepou “is deeply repentant and ashamed of his actions and is committed to repaying his victims for the loss he caused them. Mr. Lepou has recommitted himself to God and the community,” according to the defense, who also submitted a letter of support for the defendant, from the Seed of Faith Samoan Assemblies of God Youth Ministry — where he is the treasurer.

The two-page letter explained the change in Lepou after been released from jail awaiting sentencing. It recalled Lepou sharing with the youth ministry his time in jail, where “his faith was solidified and was affirmed that there is nothing impossible with God when we repent.”

The defense notes that Lepou “acknowledges the vast and substantial losses he has caused his victims.”

It also argued that incarceration is not necessary to deter Lepou from future crimes or to protect the public.

The defense further argued, that “while Mr. Lepou’s crime was significant, he did not act alone,” and reminded the court that all but one of Lepou’s co-defendants received pretrial diversions with supervisory periods of 12-18 months, which allow them the opportunity to avoid not only jail time, but any criminal convictions at all.

“Incarcerating Mr. Lepou in a federal prison, hundreds of miles away from his family, would be in significant disparity to the sentences received by his co-defendants in this case,” the defense concluded.

PROSECUTORS FIRED BACK

Federal prosecutors immediately fired back with a response, seeking a higher jail term than it initially recommended three weeks ago — 21 months in jail, instead of 12 months.

Lepou’s “offense is serious. The defendant was a leader of this conspiracy, federal prosecutor Andrea T. Steward argued in the government’s response filed Apr. 30. 

Steward said Lepou was a supervisor at RAVN Air and recruited Faiupu, and the other individuals he supervised, “to help steal computers from the mail that were intended for rural school districts and sell them for personal profit.”

The prosecutor also attacked the “characteristics” of the defendant, saying that they “are concerning.”

“The defendant relies on his work with a youth ministry, among other things, to advocate for a probationary sentence in this case,” Steward said. “It is concerning that the defendant has been made the treasurer of a youth ministry after committing extensive monetary crimes. This is putting the defendant in a position to further victimize a community.”

Steward points to the victim impact statement, which sets out in great detail the tremendous adverse impact the defendant’s crimes had on the rural villages he was stealing from.

“The defendant caused valuable resources to be wasted on trying to remedy the theft. The defendant’s crimes had a far reaching impact beyond the cost to Apple for the stolen computers and beyond the costs to rural stores whose shipments of tobacco products and phones were stolen,” Steward said.

“The defendant’s crimes caused an erosion of trust in many small communities. This is probably the most devastating impact of the defendant’s crimes,” according to Steward, who pointed out that 21 months jail “is a fair and just sentence”.