Another chance offered to convicted robber and thief

Completion of drug treatment is key to prolonged freedom

WAILUKU -- After spending most of his adult life in prison, a 28-year-old man was given a chance to be released from jail to participate in residential drug treatment on Oahu.

In recommending four years' probation rather than prison for Preston Latu, attorneys said they hoped he would succeed in the Sand Island Treatment Program.

"This one could be key," Deputy Public Defender Heather Brown said at Latu's sentencing Thursday. "I think he's tired of being in prison."

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin said it would be important for Latu "not just to start down the road to change" but to complete the program. 

"He's on the verge of being able to get in a program that can reach him in a way every other program and probation officer has failed in the past," Martin said. "This has to be the time he takes advantage of this."

In two cases, Latu had pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and third-degree theft.

Latu had been recently released from prison when he was arrested Oct. 23 in Lahaina after he was found sleeping in a stolen car that was in gear. After police took him out of the car, it started rolling toward the ocean.

After appearing in court, Latu was released from jail on supervision Oct. 31. Four days later, on Nov. 4, he again was arrested after struggling with a Macy's security officer who stopped Latu after he left the store without paying for four pairs of board shorts he was wearing under his shorts, police said.

Brown said Latu had experienced a "broken childhood" that included being around family members who struggled with drug use and who abused him.

"Inside, Preston has a very good heart, a very good soul," she said.

Latu was "genuinely remorseful" for actions that landed him in the criminal justice system, starting when he was a juvenile, Brown said. "He was also genuinely motivated to comply and could comply intermittently."

Martin said Latu had participated in another long-term residential drug treatment program on Oahu for about 14 months without completing the program.

"If you give me this opportunity, I'll make the best of it," Latu said in court.

Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill said he had been prepared to sentence Latu to prison Thursday.

"What changed my mind is your lawyer's efforts and yours to get you into Sand Island," Cahill said.

"You commit these serious crimes, but they're all these property offenses," Cahill told Latu. "But you have a violent streak. When you get arrested, things go wrong. You act out with the police, with the Macy's people."

As part of four years' probation for Latu, the judge imposed an 18-month jail term. But he said Latu could be released from jail on May 7, when space is available for him at the Sand Island program.

"Do I think the program can help you to learn something? I think the answer is yes," Cahill said. "I don't think you're going to learn anything in prison except being a caged animal for the next 10 years."

Latu faces a longer prison term if he doesn't successfully complete the program as ordered, Cahill said.

"If you violate and you come back and I'm still alive and I'm still here, it ain't going to be 10 years," Cahill said. "It's going to be 15."

Latu was ordered to pay a mandatory $1,095 fine.

In 2007, when Latu was 17, he was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for abducting a teenager and keeping him in the trunk of his car, according to news accounts at the time. Latu was convicted of second-degree robbery, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and first-degree terroristic threatening in that case.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.