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Judge gives man a chance in sport utility vehicle theft

WAILUKU — Although a man’s criminal record warranted prison, a judge said his words offered hope and placed him on four years’ probation in a stolen-vehicle case.

Kaleo Kuahuia, 28, said he had plans, including working so he would stay busy and out of trouble.

“Free time is dead time out there,” he said in court Wednesday. “That’s the time you start falling back to old habits.”

Kuahuia had pleaded no contest to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle.

He was arrested the morning of May 8 after a Hertz Rent A Car manager saw a company 2016 Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle, valued at $60,000, parked near the county wastewater treatment plant in Kahului, said Deputy Prosecutor Jeffery Temas.

After learning the vehicle hadn’t been rented out, the manager called police.

Kuahuia was found in the vehicle, with the keys in the ignition, Temas said.

The arrest occurred a few months after Kuahuia was released from prison in January.

Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae remembered representing Kuahuia when he was sentenced to five years in prison for theft and first-degree terroristic threatening in 2013.

He was sentenced by 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen, who at the time said, “I’m tired of sending another young Hawaiian boy to prison.”

“It was really a sad and somber moment,” Raidmae said Wednesday.

“Kaleo is without a doubt one of the most polite, well-mannered, level-headed clients I’ve ever had,” Raidmae said.

As to why Kuahuia committed crimes, “I think it’s in large part because he’s almost textbook institutionalized,” Raidmae said.

He said Kuahuia spent his earlier years in the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility and spent most of his adult life in prison.

Now that he’s older, “he’s a person learning to control himself,” Raidmae said.

“It was just a sad situation in 2013,” Raidmae said. “In 2018, he’s at that place where he can succeed.

“In 2018, I don’t think society requires we lock him up and throw away the key.”

Kuahuia said he had looked into entering residential drug treatment.

“I have one plan of action,” he said. “I get one place for stay. I have one job lined up.”

He said he had been doing well when he was first released from prison in January.

Then, “I stopped believing in myself because I had done bad for so long,” he said. “It’s hard for me to believe I can do good.”

In sentencing Kuahuia on Wednesday, 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo said, “As a Native Hawaiian myself, I’m always saddened when a local boy goes wrong.”

“You started failing at a very, very young age,” she told Kuahuia. “You never really had a chance at probation.

“Are you able to go in the right direction? I don’t know. I hear your words today, and it gave me hope that you can turn your life around.”

She said the probation department recommended prison for Kuahuia, who had done poorly while on probation in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Circuit Court cases.

When he was found in the stolen vehicle, Kuahuia told police he had gotten the SUV from a mechanic friend who was fixing Kuahuia’s car.

“People don’t just give you cars to drive around,” Loo said.

She said now he would have to pay for damages to the vehicle, whether he caused them or not.

“Why should I give you another chance?” Loo said. “You talk a good talk today. I’m hoping you are able to walk the walk.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but my Spidey sense says I should take a chance on you. But you go outside my Spidey web, I’m going to catch you. Try not to disappoint me.”

He was sentenced to a 161-day jail term so he could be released to enter residential drug treatment Monday.

Kuahuia also was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $3,048 in restitution.

He was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs, to complete drug treatment and to write a letter apologizing to Hertz.

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

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