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Young man given 5-years probation for assault and meth possession — he will serve 7 months

American Samoa High Court building
Court says you’re now entering the big league, no longer in District Court
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A young man from Vaitogi convicted of assault and unlawful possession of an illegal substance was ordered by the court to serve 20 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) as a condition of his 5 years probation.

Solomona Gauta, who has been in custody since his arrest last year appeared before Associate Justice Fiti Sunia this week for sentencing. He was represented by Public Defender Michael White while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Kristine Soule’.

Gauta was charged in two separate cases. In the first case where he faced one count of 2nd-degree assault, he pled guilty to the amended charged of 3rd-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

In the second case, he was charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth and one count of unlawful possession of meth with the intent to distribute.

In a plea agreement with the government, Gauta pled guilty to the amended count one of unlawful possession of meth, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

When given the chance to address the court, Gauta apologized to the court for his action and begged for another chance to return back home and use his life wisely. He told the court that he is truly remorseful for what he did and he wanted to seek employment to help out his family.

Both attorneys recommended a probated sentence.

The government attorney said that based on the plea agreement, the government would seek probation and the defendant would be ordered to attend counseling at the Department of Human and Social Services including illegal drug counseling and anger management counseling.

After reviewing the statement by the defendant and submissions from both parties, the court concluded that the defendant is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

Based on the Pre Sentence Report prepared by Probation, the defendant served 391 days in TCF during his pretrial detention.

For the charge of 3rd-degree assault, the defendant was sentenced to a term of 12 months imprisonment and a fine of $1,000. He will be credited for the 391 days he has already served while awaiting the outcome of his case.

He was ordered by the court to pay his fine when he is released from custody.

For the charge of unlawful possession of meth, the court sentenced the defendant to 5 years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine. Execution of the imprisonment term was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation with several conditions.

He shall serve 20 months at the TCF and he will be credited for the 391 days he already has served. Based on the court calculation, the defendant has to serve up to 7 months in TCF before he is released.

He shall pay his fine of $2,000, remain law abiding and visit probation every month. The defendant shall not consume alcohol or possess any illegal drugs and he shall submit himself for a drug test at anytime he’s instructed to do so by a police officer or a probation officer.

Sunia told Gauta that he’s now entering the big league. He is no longer at District Court but he’s now before the High Court. It’s also up to him to decide whether to make a turn or continue to play the game.

Chief Associate Judge Mamea Sala and Associate Judge Tunupopo A. Tunupopo assisted Sunia on the bench.

THE ASSAULT CASE

The assault incident took place on Feb. 17, 2020, wherein the victim, while he was with his girlfriend in her room, was assaulted by Solomona. The assault included stabbing the victim with a butter knife. The victim’s girlfriend is the sister of the suspect in this matter.

(Samoa News reported details of this case in its’ Mar. 17, 2022 issue.)

UNLAWFUL POSSESSION CASE:

In July of 2022 after the Gauta was released on bond from his assault case, he was arrested again when his vehicle was pulled over by police during a traffic stop and drugs were discovered inside the vehicle.

For this case, he was charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth and one count of unlawful possession of meth with the intent to distribute, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years, or a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $20,000, or both.

BACKGROUND

Gauta’s father is serving a sentence in TCF for a drug conviction and his mother, who is currently out on bond has a pending drug case in High Court for allegedly smuggling drugs into TCF a few years back.