Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — It was during the sentencing of a young mother convicted of unlawful possession of methamphetamine that the court told her that her actions show that she was contributing to the “drug business” in the territory.

Defendant, Fevaiga Tagovailoa, who has been in custody since her arrest in December of last year, unable to post a $5,000 surety bond, appeared before Associate Justice Fiti Sunia yesterday morning for sentencing.

Chief Associate Judge Mamea Sala assisted Sunia on the bench.

Tagovailoa, under a plea agreement with the government, accepted by the court on June 29 of this year, pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

By her guilty plea, Tagovailoa admits that on the early morning of Dec. 25, 2021, cops discovered a glass pipe containing meth in her possession during a traffic stop. She was a passenger inside a vehicle pulled over during a checkpoint.

She apologized to the court for her action and begged for a second chance to go back home to be with her 3 children and her mother.

According to the defendant’s statement, her actions caused embarrassment to her family especially her mother and her children. After spending 7 months behind bars, Tagovailoa said she learned a good lesson, which help her in the future.

She tearfully told the court she’s truly remorseful and promised that she would never do this again.

Both parties asked for the court a probated sentence.

In sentencing, the court noted that the defendant has no prior record and she’s a young mother.

The court stated that the drug problem in the territory exits and most of the people that came before the court are drug users — referring to 13 case that came before the court recently and 7 out of 13 cases involved meth.

The court told the defendant that her tears are of no concern to the court. It’s the user that allows those who are in drug business to sell their drugs and to bring more drugs into the territory.

“No user, can’t sell. Can’t sell, no business,” the court said, adding that the defendant was contributing to the drug business in the territory.

Tagovailoa was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Execution of imprisonment was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for 5 years subject to the usual conditions, including random testing.

The defendant was ordered to serve 20 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF). She was credited with the 7 months she served during her pretrial detention and the balance was stayed based on her good behavior.

She is also order to pay a fine of $2,000 within the first 12 months of her probation.

The defendant was released from custody yesterday after sentencing.

The court strongly advised the defendant that if she violated any conditions of her probation, there would be no second chance and she would serve her full sentence.