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Repeat offender sentenced to time served — 70 days for PPD

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICA SAMOA — The young man who spent 70 days behind bars for disturbing the peace in Iliili a few months ago was released from confinement last week, after District Court Judge Elvis P. Patea sentenced him to time served at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).

The government claimed that on the night of Jan. 6, 2020 around 11p.m, Vineula Alolu disturbed the peace by yelling out profanities while he was heavily intoxicated, which caused many families to wake up and run to the road to see what was happening.

The government further claimed that the defendant also engaged in some threatening behavior when some of the village people tried to calm him down.

Alolu pled guilty to public peace disturbance (PPD), a class B misdemeanor. In return for his guilty plea, the government agreed to dismiss the remaining charges against the defendant. Alolu was arrested on the night of the incident and spent 70 days in prison after he was unable to post his cash bond of $500.

He appeared in District Court earlier this month for sentencing.

The government agreed that the defendant would be placed on probation for a period of 12 months without any additional period of detention.

According to court records, Alolu has a criminal record in District Court. In 2013, he was convicted of PPD and property damage. Again in 2016, he was also convicted of PPD and 3rd degree assault.

The court sentenced Alolu to a period of probation of 12 months subject to the following conditions, that he pay a fine of $100, stay away from consuming alcohol or possession of illegal drugs, and remain law abiding and visit the probation office every month. His probation review will be on Nov. 20, 2018.

“Alolu, if you violate any conditions of your probation, the court will order you to serve the 145 days of detention that was deferred from your previous cases. It’s time for you to stop coming to court and seeing me, except for your probation review in November,” Patea warned the defendant.