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Man picked up on suspicion of burglary also charged with meth possession

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 40-year-old man who was picked up pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court, on the allegation that he unlawfully entered the home of another family and stole several items including a big fine mat, clothes, power tools and a laptop, is now charged with unlawful possession of drugs.

The government has filed two separate criminal cases against Loleni Talalelei, a.k.a Lorenze Talalelei, who is not new to the court system and made his initial appearance in District Court last week.

In the first case, Talalelei is charged with stealing and second degree burglary, both class C felonies, punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, a $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 a maximum of $20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

In the second case, he is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, and unlawful possession of methamphetamine — both felonies. Bond is set at $15,000.

Talalelei’s attorney asked to reduce bail to $5,000 surety for both cases; but the prosecutor argued that Talalelei is not new to the court system, and his actions in these two cases show the type of person he is. She then asked that bail be maintained in both cases and the court agreed.

THE CASE

On Apr 28th, 2020, a woman reported to police that their Tafeta home was burglarized by an unknown person, and a lot of personal belongings were stolen. A week later, a woman who claimed to be Talalelei’s ex-girlfriend notified police that some of the stolen items were brought into their home by her male cousin, who alleged that the items were from Talalelei, the defendant.

Police spoke to the defendant’s ex-girlfriend who said that her 20-year-old cousin told her that Talalelei gave him the items to go and sell them to get money to buy them drugs.

Police also spoke to the cousin, who confirmed that the defendant gave him the items to sell for drugs. He further told police that the defendant also told him that the items were stolen from a house in Tafeta and he was planning to burglarize the house again and steal more items.

The defendant was apprehended by police at his uncle’s home in Taputimu and was transported to the Tafuna Police Station for investigation. When questioned, the defendant allegedly admitted that he broke into the victim’s home and took a number of things on the night of Apr. 28th. He further stated that some of the items he stole were sold to a man at “Le Aute” in exchange for drugs while others were given away for free to some of his friends.

The defendant also confirmed to investigators that he gave some of the stolen items to his ex-girlfriend’s cousin to sell for cash to buy drugs. He explained to investigators that his ex-girlfriend’s cousin had nothing to do with the burglary, however, he gave him stuff to sell because he knew he needed money to buy drugs.

Before Talalelei was taken into custody when arrested by police, a body search was conducted for weapons and illegal drugs. During the pat down, two clear baggies containing a white crystalline substance which later tested positive for meth was discovered inside the defendant’s rear pocket of his pants.

The defendant refused to speak to police regarding the drugs allegedly found in his possession.