Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man convicted of driving while his license was permanently suspended pursuant to his three DUIs conviction in District Court was released from the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) last week, after the High Court decided that the time he already served during his pretrial conference detention is enough for the crime that he committed.

Uatime Leilua, who has been in custody since his arrest appeared in High Court last week for sentencing.

He was initially charged with one count of felony driving, the charge that he also pled guilty to, is a class D felony, punishable by term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, with a mandatory period of detention of 90 days.

When given the chance to address the court, Leilua apologized for his action and immediately asked for a second chance to return home to care for his wife and children. He stated to the court that he’s the only person working to provide financial assistance for his family.

His defense attorney, Ryan Anderson asked the court to sentence his client to a period of probation without any additional period of detention. Anderson further stated to the court that the 150 days his client served in TCF is quite enough for his detention in this matter.

Prosecutor agreed and told the court that the defendant is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

Associate Justice Fiti Sunia stated that the circumstances of the matter arose when two police officers patrolling the Utulei public highway observed a minor child sitting in the passenger’s seat without wearing a seat belt.

Officers initiated a traffic stop and the driver of the vehicle was later identified as Uatime Leilua, the defendant in this matter. It during the stop that Leilua eventually admitted that his driver’s license had been permanent suspended by the court over DUI convictions.

The court stated that Leilua’s last DUI conviction was 2006 where the court sentenced him to 24 months probation as a condition that his driver’s license was permanently suspended.

In delivering his decision. Sunia reminded Leilua that his license in the territory was permanently revoked — meaning that he’s no longer allowed to drive any motor vehicle.

“The law means you don’t drive in the territory forever. You don’t drive for whatever reason, rush to the LBJ, to the store or whatever,” the court told Leilua.

Leilua was sentenced to 5 years probation subject to conditions that he pay a $1,000 fine, serve a period of detention of 90 days, for which he was given credit for the time he already served.