WAILUKU - A 10-year prison term was ordered for a Haiku man who was implicated in a robbery at a Kahului convenience store last year.
"I know what I did was wrong," Jonathan Awai said in court Monday. "I was under the influence of ice and alcohol and had a really bad problem with that."
In the robbery reported at 4:30 a.m. Dec. 29, 2007, police said two suspects had their faces covered and one carried what appeared to be a firearm. Surveillance photos showed co-defendant Kamanalani Geddes pointing a gun at a clerk's head while demanding he open the register. When the clerk opened two cash registers but couldn't unlock the third, he was hit in the head with the gun, police said.
Police didn't recover the weapon. Geddes, who was sentenced in the case earlier, said it was a BB gun.
"My heart goes out to the people that were there that night," Awai said.
Since then, he said he has completed a drug treatment program on Oahu and has a baby on the way.
Defense attorney James Brumbaugh said Awai is now clean and sober and working to turn his life around.
Brumbaugh said the robbery, although serious, was a "Keystone Kops type situation."
After leaving the 7-Eleven store with $50 to $60 cash, Awai and Geddes got into a car that went over a curb, flattening both tires, Brumbaugh said. He said police officers followed rim marks left on the pavement to Kanaha Pond, where they found Awai and Geddes hiding under bushes.
"Jonathan stated, 'I didn't do anything. What do you think I did? Rob a store?' " Brumbaugh said.
Awai has the support of family members, said his father, Danny Awai. He asked if his son's incarceration could be delayed until after Christmas so he could celebrate his 22nd birthday with the family.
With Deputy Prosecutor Carson Tani noting that Awai had shown up for all prior court hearings, 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August ordered Awai to turn himself in Friday afternoon at the Maui Community Correctional Center.
Awai had pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree robbery and third-degree assault.
Earlier this year, co-defendant Geddes, 20, was sentenced as a youthful offender to a five-year prison term in the case.
August said he would have imposed a similar sentence for Awai but he wasn't eligible for youthful offender sentencing because of a felony adjudication for first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug when he was 16 years old.
Brumbaugh said no marijuana was found in that case, although it was alleged that Awai offered to sell or trade the drug. Awai had unsuccessfully tried to have the conviction reversed so he would qualify for a lesser sentence in his current case, Brumbaugh said.
As an adult, Awai has 2007 convictions for third-degree assault and abuse, August said. He said Awai had absconded from two years' probation in the abuse case, which occurred on the Big Island, when he was arrested for the 7-Eleven robbery.
August said he hoped the parole board, which will determine how much time Awai spends incarcerated, would take into account his successful completion of the treatment program.
"The court hopes that they will treat him as a youthful offender," August said.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
