Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who is on probation for burglary and stealing is now back in court on another stealing allegation.

Folasa Filimaua, also known as Sa Fili was released from the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) in November of last year after serving 28-months detention. However, he was arrested again last month on new allegations.

Filimaua, 32, made his initial appearance in Court last month. During his initial appearance, he asked the court for a preliminary examination (PX).

He is charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and unlawful possess of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, along with stealing, a class felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, a $5,000 fine or pursuant to A.S.C.A , 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.

Bail is set at $20,000.

If he posts bond, Filimaua is ordered to remain law abiding, not leave or attempt to leave the territory without the court’s permission, and not make any direct or indirect contact with the government’s witnesses, including the victim, which is Kim’s Mart in the Tafuna area.

THE CASE

On Mar. 27, 2022, an employee of Kim’s Mart in the Tafuna area walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report a crime committed by an unknown person who allegedly stole a suitcase containing essential documents, along with an iPhone, iPad and a laptop from the store. Two police officers were assigned to investigate the alleged crime.

The representative from Kim’s Mart told investigators that a male with a tattoo on his neck walked into the store on the morning of Feb. 23rd and made his way to a table that had several items on display — iPhones, iPads, and laptops, as well as a suitcase containing essential documents and other electronic devices that was on the edge of the (display) table.

According to the store’s representative, the alleged incident was recorded via a video camera, and showed the suspect taking a phone located on the display table, placing it inside his backpack and walking around inside the store. Five minutes later, the male walked back to the display table, reached out and took the suitcase and quickly walked outside and disappeared.

The video was not reviewed until two days after the alleged incident, and that’s when police were immediately contacted.

Investigators were able to get a copy of the video footage from Kim’s Mart and view it, which confirmed the statement given by the representative who reported the matter to police. The person inside the video footage was later identified by one of the police officers as Folasa Filimaua, the defendant in this matter.

Investigators set out to locate the defendant after they obtained an arrest warrant from the court. One week later, Filimaua was apprehended from his girlfriend’s home in Kokoland and was transported to the TPS for questioning where he was Mirandized. Filimaua informed investigators he understood his rights and he wanted to tell his side of the story.

Filimaua told investigators that he had gone to Kim’s Mart to meet his old friend who worked there; however, everything went wrong when he was told that his friend no longer worked at the store — that’s when he ended up stealing a phone and a black suitcase containing papers and an iPhone, iPad and a laptop from inside the store.

According to Filimaua, he sold the laptop to a woman for $100 but he gave the phone and the iPad to a couple and the couple gave him $100 for the items. He kept the black suitcase in his room.

Investigators retrieved the suitcase containing documents for the business and some personal paperwork, along with the 2 phones, laptop and the iPad and gave it back to the owner of Kim’s Mart, who later confirmed that these were items stolen from her store.

Before Filimaua was taken into custody for questioning, he was patted down for weapons or illegal drugs; and, officers discovered two small stamp sized baggies inside his shirt pocket. One baggie contained a white crystalline substance while the other contained a green leafy substance.

When asked about the substances found in his possession, Filimaua smiled and told officers, “the stuff belongs to me.”

The white crystalline substance was tested and the result was positive for meth; while the green leafy substance tested positive for THC, the active compound in marijuana.

BACKGROUND

According to court files, Filimaua was charged in 3 separate cases that occurred in 2018. One case charged him with stealing, and in another case, Filimaua was slapped with several charges including 4 counts of stealing; 3 counts of 1st-degree burglary; 1 count of 2nd-degree burglary; 1 count of escape from confinement, and the misdemeanor charge of alluding police officers.

In a third case, Filimaua was charged with 1 count of escape from confinement.

Under a plea agreement with the government, Filimaua agreed to plead guilty to stealing in the first case; and 2 counts of stealing and 1 count of first-degree burglary in the second case.

In return, the remaining charges were dismissed.

With his guilty pleas, Filimaua admitted that on July 17, 2018 while he was inside a store in Nu’uuli, he stole a tablet, worth more than $100.

He also admits that one month later on Aug. 20, 2018 he stole several electronic items including an Apple laptop and iPad, a computer scanner, and a Samsung tablet from another store in Tafuna. None of these items were recovered.

Filimaua further confirmed that on Oct.20, 2018, he burglarized a home, in Ottoville, in the middle of the night and stole several items including a television sets, a laptop, 2 speakers, a bag, 4 pairs of shoes, a big fine mat, and an Apple iPad, worth more than $5,000 and a wallet with $740 cash inside.

Filimaua was 26 years old when he appeared before the court for sentencing in August 2019. According to Probation, Filimaua dropped out of school when he was 12 years old.

In the first case where Filimaua was convicted of stealing, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 7 years.

In the second case he was convicted to two counts of stealing and 1 count of burglary in the first degree. The court sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of 7 years for each count.

The defendant’s sentences ran concurrently. Execution of sentences were suspended, and Filimaua was place on probation for 7 years under certain conditions, one of which he served a period of detention of 28 months at TCF.