Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The 52-year-old taxi driver who was charged with unlawful possession of a glass pipe containing methamphetamine after his vehicle was pulled over by police in May of this year pled guilty in High Court.

Farani Talosaga, who has been in custody since his arrest, unable to post a $5,000 cash bond, appeared in High Court last week for a Change of Plea hearing.

Talosaga was originally charged with one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, a felony punishable by not less than five or more than ten years in jail, and a fine of not less than $5,000 or more than $20,000, or both.

In a plea agreement with the government last month, Talosaga pled guilty to unlawful possession of methamphetamine. With his guilty plea, Talosaga admits that on July 30, 2019 he unlawfully possessed a glass pipe, which contained meth.

According to the plea agreement, on July 30, a man called the Tafuna Substation to report something he noticed when a taxi picked him up from Kokoland and dropped him off at his work place in Nu’uuli.

The driver of the taxi was later identified as Talosaga, the defendant in this case.

The government claims that when the passenger jumped inside the taxi in Kokoland, the driver immediately asked if he wanted some “stuff”. The passenger asked Talosaga what he was referring to, and Talosaga responde, “I got ice (methamphetamine) if you want it.”

The passenger was uncomfortable throughout the ride; and immediately after he was dropped off at his work place, the man contacted the Tafuna Police Station and alerted them about the situation, including all the information regarding Talosaga and his vehicle.

Not long afterwards, police located a taxi that matched the description of the vehicle the caller provided on the Iliili highway heading to Vaitogi and immediately pulled it over. After a brief conversation with police, Talosaga agreed to a body search and a search of his vehicle. That's when a glass pipe containing methamphetamine was discovered inside the left pocket of Talosaga’s pants.

The white crystalline substance inside the glass pipe tested positive for meth.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 5th.