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Man gets 10-year prison term in drugs, gun case

Clayton Gomes

WAILUKU — A judge ordered a 10-year prison term for a Wailuku man Friday after police discovered hundreds of grams of marijuana and other drugs as well as illegal semi-automatic handguns in his home two years ago.

Clayton Gomes, 28, pleaded no contest to first-degree theft and five drug-related charges. He had originally been charged with 14 counts of drugs and firearm violations, but more than half were dismissed in exchange for his plea.

“You basically had your own private pharmacy there,” 2nd Circuit Court Judge Rhonda Loo told Gomes. “I think this 10-year term is the best that you can get.”

On March 18, 2016, police executed a search warrant on Gomes’ home and his vehicle, Deputy Prosecutor Annalisa Bernard Lee said.

At his home, police found more than 300 grams of marijuana, 21 grams of cocaine, 10 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 10 grams of marijuana hash. Police also seized 500 oxycodone 30-milligram pills, 15 diazepam pills and three 25-caliber semi-automatic handguns, which were not permitted or registered to Gomes, Bernard Lee said. Police also found over 27 grams of cocaine in his car, she said.

“It’s a sad thing Mr. Gomes is going to have to leave behind a family and children who love him, but at the same time drugs are horrible and selling drugs to our community is horrible,” Bernard Lee said. “There’s really nothing more the state can do in this case but to ask the court to sentence him to prison time. We do hope Mr. Gomes learns his lesson through the prison system. Obviously, the state and County of Maui always wants its members to learn their lessons and to come home to their families and communities a better person.”

Defense attorney Michael Green said Gomes has taken responsibility for his actions and asked the court to follow the plea agreement. Green said he believed probation would not be appropriate because of the seriousness of the case, but he requested his client serve no more than 10 years in prison.

“Aside from what happened, he has a beautiful young boy and family,” Green said. “One thing he said is he realizes the harm he did to other people to be involved in this type of conduct.”

More than a dozen family members appeared in court Friday to support Gomes during his sentencing. He told the court that his crime “opened my eyes to stop being selfish.”

“There’s nothing I can say to take it back, and I take full responsibility for this, and I want to move forward,” he said.

Loo ordered Gomes to forfeit any firearms or ammunition as part of his sentence. She allowed him to say goodbye to family members and told him “I hope you learn from this lesson.”

“You were looking at 40-plus years, possibly even 80 years if you went down on everything with the amount of drugs and pills that you had,” she said. “That was a very real possibility. You did it to yourself, and hopefully one day you can be a good example to your family, to your child.”

* Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.

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