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Molokai man to serve jail term of three months in drug case

The Maui News

WAILUKU — A Molokai man is serving a three-month jail term after he was found with drugs he reportedly obtained from his wife.

Richard Dela Cruz, 65, also was placed on four years’ probation when he was sentenced Oct. 4.

“This just has to stop,” 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill said in sentencing Dela Cruz. “There are so many offenses here.”

In three criminal cases, Dela Cruz had pleaded no contest to second-degree promoting of a dangerous drug, third-degree promoting of a dangerous drug, prohibited possession of a firearm, second-degree promoting of a detrimental drug and third-degree promoting of a detrimental drug.

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin said Dela Cruz’s wife “was essentially dealing crystal methamphetamine, including providing meth to her husband.”

One case involved drugs and a firearm police found when they executed a warrant to search the Dela Cruz residence Nov. 6, 2016, said defense attorney Al Albrechtson.

He said Dela Cruz’s wife was obtaining drugs from Oahu, apparently by the mail.

“She was selling the drugs,” Albrechtson said. “She threw Richard some smokes, providing him with some meth to smoke, while she was engaged in this further distribution of drugs in the Molokai area.”

Dela Cruz acknowledged to police that he smoked methamphetamine and said some of the contraband found was his and had been given to him by his wife, Albrechtson said.

He said Dela Cruz also admitted that firearms found were his. After being discharged from probation early in a 2007 case, Dela Cruz believed he didn’t have felony convictions and was allowed to have firearms, Albrechtson said. Paperwork hadn’t been completed for the discharge, he said.

About six months later, on May 12, 2017, police similarly found drugs from both Dela Cruz and his wife when police obtained another search warrant for the residence, Albrechtson said. Police also seized ammunition that hadn’t been retrieved in the first search.

“If you look at the relative conduct of the parties in these cases, I would suggest my client is relatively less culpable than his wife is,” Albrechtson said. “She’d probably be the first one to tell you that. So I do not feel under the circumstances that jail time is appropriate for my client.”

Dela Cruz was again arrested Sept. 6, 2017, after leaving a traffic stop and allegedly trying to assault a police officer, Albrechtson said. Police found Dela Cruz with a rifle that he said was broken and he was fixing after receiving it from someone else, according to Albrechtson.

“Molokai has a subsistence lifestyle,” he said. “People hunt. People fish. That’s one of the reasons he had the weapons.”

Dela Cruz worked for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for 42 years before retiring in 2013, Albrechtson said.

He said Dela Cruz had done well on supervision in the past and had been sober for more than a year.

“It’s been a long journey for me,” Dela Cruz said in court. “But I’m doing real well right now.”

Judge Cahill said he had planned to impose a one-year jail term before hearing from Dela Cruz.

“You talked yourself into less than six months,” Cahill told the defendant.

Dela Cruz’s wife, Jacqueline Dela Cruz, 50, was placed on four years’ probation with no additional jail when she was sentenced April 24 by 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza.

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