Ads by Google Ads by Google

Court Report

Court Report logo
Men sentenced after pleading guilty to trespassing in two separate incidents
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Under a plea agreement with the government, the District Court has sentenced Lologa Apelu Jr. to 12 months probation after he pled guilty to third degree assault and two misdemeanor counts of trespassing on land belonging to a neighboring family.

According to court information, Apelu’s family got into a dispute with a neighbor, resulting in the accused going to the neighbor’s property and assaulting a male.

Prior to being sentenced, Apelu apologized to the court for his actions but District Court Judge Fiti A. Sunia noted that Apelu’s actions could have resulted in a more serious outcome, affecting the defendant’s life, as well as causing trouble in the neighborhood.

Among the conditions of Apelu’s probation is that he pay a $100 fine within 90-days, and he must maintain peace with the neighbors, be a law abiding citizen, and attend and complete anger management counseling.

MEALEAGA ALE

A young man who broke inside a family’s house by entering a room through a window and slept on the bed until the next morning while he was intoxicated was ordered by the court to stay away from the family’s house and pay a fine of $100, as a condition of his 6-month probation.

Mealaga Ale entered into a plea agreement with the government last Friday. Assistant Public Defender Anna Wells represented Ale, while prosecuting the government’s case was Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey.

Ale pled guilty to the charge of trespass, a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than 6 months and a fine of up to $300.

Upon his guilty plea, Ale told the court that on the day of the accident, he walked home after a drinking session with some friends; and he suddenly walked over to this family’s home, opened the window to the room and he jumped inside without any authority and slept on the bed. He admitted to the court that he was very intoxicated.

ANOTHER OVERSTAYER IN COURT

An overstayer who is serving a 6-month jail term at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) was in District Court last week for a probation review hearing.

Mika Fonoti, 26, entered American Samoa on a 30-day visitor's permit in 2017. He was in the territory illegally for over 10 months before he was arrested on May. 20, 2018 after he entered a store and stole goods and cash.

Fonoti was convicted of misdemeanor stealing, and ordered by the court to serve 6 months as a condition of a 2-year probation sentence.

Upon serving his detention, he shall depart the territory and remain outside of its borders for the duration of the probation term.

Court records show that Fonoti’s 6-month detention period will end in 2 weeks. The court has ordered that he depart the territory immediately afterwards.

Another probation review for Fonoti is scheduled