Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man convicted of violating local drug laws promised the court that he would never come back to court for any offense in the future.

Alatasi Atiifale, who has been in custody since his arrest in January of last year, unable to post a $10,000 surety bond, appeared in Court last week for sentencing.

Atiifale was initially charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), an unclassified felony, punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both; along with two counts of 1st- degree burglary and two counts of attempted stealing, all class C felonies, punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, a fine of up to $5,000 fine or pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to maximum of $20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment for each count.

Under a plea agreement with the government, accepted by the court in March of this year, Atiifale pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of meth. The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Atiifale admits that he unlawfully entered a store in Nuuuli on the night of Jan. 12, 2021 for the purpose of committing a crime, however, when he was apprehended, cops found two glass pipes containing meth in his pocket.

When given the chance to address the court, Atiifale apologized for his action and requested a second chance.

Attorneys from both sides asked the court for a probated sentence.

The defense attorney told the court that his client has been a carpenter at a local construction for over 15 years and he’s the only breadwinner for his family. The prosecutor asked the court to adopt the recommendation by Probation and sentence the defendant to a term of probation.

According to the court, the circumstances that resulted in the arrest of the defendant stem from an incident where he attempted to burglarize a store in Nuuuli.

Atiifale was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Execution of sentence was suspended and Atiifale was placed on probation for 5 years subject to several conditions.

He was ordered to serve a period of detention of 20 months at the Tafuna Correctional Facility (TCF), however, the court ordered Atiifale to serve only 16 months of his period of detention. He will be credited for the 15 months he served during his pretrial conference detention, leaving a balance of one more month to serve.

The court ordered the defendant to seek and secure gainful employment to pay his $2,000 fines. Probation review is in June 10, 2023

VILIAMU AFAMASAGA

A man convicted of violating local drug laws was sentenced to 5 years probation.

Viliamu Afamasaga, who has been in custody since his arrest last year appeared in Court last week for sentencing.

Afamasaga was initially charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, meth, a felony. But under a plea agreement, accepted by the government in April of this year, Afamasaga pled guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful possession of meth, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

With his guilty plea, Afamasaga admits that in March of 2021, he possessed a glass pipe containing meth when police searched him during a public peace disturbance incident.

When given the chance to address the court, Afamasaga apologized and begged for a second chance to return home to care for his wife and children.

The defense attorney asked the court to sentence Taulaga to a probated sentence to allow him to go back home and seek gainful employment to provide for his family.

The prosecutor echoed the defense’s statement for a probated sentence, saying that the government believes the defendant is truly remorseful for his crime and he is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

She also told the court that the defendant has already served 14 months in jail, while awaiting the outcome of his case.

The court wanted to know of the defendant’s Immigration status and who is his sponsor. According to the defendant’s attorney, his Immigration status is still current and his wife is his sponsor.

The court stated that there were many other defendants like Afamasaga who come before the court for unlawful possession of illegal drugs. However, the court feels that Afamasaga’s case is different from all other cases because he was living a useful life until he was arrested in this case.

“Your actions cost you your good family and your job,” the court told Afamasaga. “You need to put a stop to this behavior before it gets worse and you will not want to see the bad outcome and the consequences of your actions.”

Afamasaga was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine. Execution of sentence was suspended and Afamasaga was placed on probation for the period of 5 years subject to several conditions.

He must serve a period of detention of 20 months without release, and was credited for the 14 months he served during his pretrial detention. The 6 months is stayed until further order of the court, and the defendant is ordered to serve 14 months of his detention — which is the time he already served during his pretrial detention.

Afamasaga was told that this particular panel of judges wants to invest in people’s lives. They believe that you’re one (who can learn from this) “but once you fail we can change our minds.”

FALANIKO BROWN

A man who failed to comply with conditions of his 5-year probation has been given another chance. Probationer Falaniko Brown was arrested on Jan. 26, 2022 after he tested positive for marijuana (weed).

Brown appeared in court two months ago for a preliminary hearing, where he admitted that he failed to comply with conditions of his probation, which required him to be drug and alcohol free.

According to Probation, a random urinalysis on Brown administered Jan. 26 at the District Court came back positive for THC, the active compound in marijuana. Brown admitted to Probation that he smoked weed at his father’s birthday party the night before.

Brown appeared in court last week for a Disposition Hearing.

According to Brown’s defense attorney, Brown was employed when he was arrested in January. He paid his fine in full and was also current with his monthly visitations to Probation. The defense attorney said his client screwed up when he smoked weed.

Brown apologized for his actions and asked for a chance to continue with his Probation. He assured the court that he would not violate any more conditions of probation.

In handing down its decision, the court told Brown his probation would not be revoked; however, if he fails to comply with any of the conditions set forth, he will not get any more chances. Furthermore, the court added one additional condition to Brown’s probation — he shall depart the territory and remain outside of its borders for the duration of his probation.

This condition, according to the court will activate once Brown fails to comply with court orders.

APISALOMA ETEUATI

A young man convicted of a crime while still on probation for another  crime was ordered to serve out his period of detention that had been suspended at the beginning of this year, which was 38 days at the TCF.

Apisaloma Eteuati appeared in Court last week for two separate hearings — a pretrial conference for his new case and disposition hearing for his previous case.

Court records show that while Eteuati was on 6 months probation from a PPD conviction at the beginning of last year, he was arrested by police in March on another criminal charge, this time trespassing, 3rd- degree assault and 3rd- degree property damage.

When Eteuati’s case was called, his defense attorney informed the court that they had reached an agreement with the government on his new case.

According to terms of the plea agreement, Eteuati would pled guilty to 3rd- degree property damage and both parties recommended probation on the condition that Eteuati pay restitution in the amount of $560 for damaging the victim’s property.

Furthermore, both parties also recommended to the court not to revoke Eteuati’s probation, but instead to modify it.

Facts of the case show that around November of last year, Eteuati went to the victim’s home uninvited and damaged his property including a glass door to the house, an electric chainsaw; the door to the house and screen-wire on 3 windows, for a total cost of $560.

In delivering its decision, the court reminded Eteuati that when he appeared in court for sentencing on his previous matter, the court suspended his period of detention of 38 days. The court then revoked his probation and ordered him to serve the 38 days at the TCF.

In the new matter, the court sentenced him to 6 months probation under the conditions that he pay restitution in the amount of $560 and serve 45 days at the TCF. He was credited for the two months he served at TCF while awaiting the outcome of this case.

Since Eteuati had served more time than the period of detention the court ordered him to serve, he was released from custody after sentencing.

Eteuati was also reminded that the court wants to see that he has paid half of his restitution when he appears in court on Aug. 21 for a probation review hearing.

Furthermore, the court ordered Eteuati to attend anger management classes, be law abiding and look for a job to pay his restitution.

CHRIS TAOUMA

A man allegedly found with two glass pipes containing meth inside his vehicle when police pulled him over for a traffic violation almost a year ago has finally been arrested and charged.

The question of why the government waited so long to charge Chris Taouma in this case is still unanswered.

According to the government’s case, on Aug. 23, 2021 cops observed a vehicle speeding and the driver was not wearing his seatbelt. A traffic stop in front of a store in Tafuna was made by police.

The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Chris Taouma, the defendant in this case. He did not have his driver’s license or any other form of photo ID on him.

Before Taouma was transported to the TPS because of no ID, police conducted a body search and nothing was found. The search then moved to the vehicle where police discovered a black pouch between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Inside the black pouch were two glass pipes containing a white powder. The white powder tested positive for meth.

Taouma refused to make a statement to police regarding the glass pipes.

He made his initial appearance in Court where he was charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth, a felony.

Bail is set at $5,000.

Taouma is scheduled to appear in court in August of this year after he entered a not guilty plea to the charge against him when he appeared in High Court for arraignment last week.