WAILUKU - A 20-year-old Makawao man, who a deputy prosecutor said racked up more criminal cases in a year's span "than most people consider doing in a lifetime," was sentenced Monday to five years' probation and given credit for 56 days in jail for five cases involving forgery, thefts, trespassing and criminal property damage.
Second Circuit Judge Richard Bissen sentenced Logan Franco in accordance with a plea agreement that the judge was bound to follow.
Franco also was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and a $100 fine and to serve 300 hours of community service. He was given a chance to clear his record in four of his five cases if he successfully completes probation. In addition, he was ordered to write letters of apology to the victims in the cases as well as abide by a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"I'm sorry for the stuff I did in the past," Franco told the court. He also thanked the court and the prosecution for the plea agreement.
Bissen asked Franco how he felt the plea agreement would benefit him.
"So I can get along with my life; be successful," Franco replied.
Bissen told Franco he has a good support system and supportive parents who have stood behind him, while his so-called friends with whom he had gotten in trouble were not at the courthouse to support him.
Deputy Prosecutor Jeffery Temas, who handled four of the five cases against Franco, said the crimes occurred between 2011 and 2012 and are more "than most people consider doing in a lifetime."
He added that Franco is "at the fork in the road of his young life," and he can choose to set goals and be successful or fail.
But Temas added that no one in the courtroom wants to see Franco fail.
In a plea agreement, Franco pleaded no contest to second-degree forgery, four counts of third-degree theft, first-degree criminal trespassing and fourth-degree property damage, records show. Most charges were reduced and others were dismissed.
In a jury trial in August, jurors found Franco guilty of a lesser charge of second-degree terroristic threatening and simple trespass in a Jan. 6 incident in a Kahului neighborhood. He allegedly assaulted an off-duty police officer. A 2nd Circuit Court jury couldn't reach a verdict on the assault charge and Bissen later granted a defense request to acquit Franco of the charge, court records show.
Because Franco went to trial in that case, the charges cannot be cleared from his record like those in the four other cases, according to court testimony.
In one of those four cases on July 22, 2011, Franco with a co-defendant unlawfully entered a residence in Pukalani and took cash, a fanny pack, bracelets, earrings, a necklace, a pendant, a wood box and jewelry, court records show.
In another case on Feb. 21, Franco unlawfully entered a Paia residence and took a pendant, a DVD deck, an airsoft pistol, a pit bull puppy and jewelry, records show.
In March, Franco was captured on surveillance cameras visiting the Maui County Federal Credit Union automatic teller machine several times in Kahului. On March 8, an employee checked the machine for late night deposits and found evidence of damage.
Franco was identified through the surveillance video, records show.
In incidents in March and April, records show Franco admitted to manufacturing six $50 bills and a $100 bill with a home computer and admitted to using the counterfeit money. The money apparently was used to purchase marijuana and truck tire rims.
