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Man relapses, resentenced to prison term

WAILUKU — A man who was released from jail last year to enter a residential rehabilitation program has been resentenced to a five-year prison term after he was let go from the program when he tested positive for drug use.

Christopher Helmer, 29, agreed to the prison sentence Wednesday, said his attorney, Jon Apo.

He said Helmer, who already has spent nearly three years in jail in the cases, also had been given the option of being again placed on probation and completing a long-term residential drug treatment program on Oahu.

Helmer was released from jail to enter a different Oahu treatment program Oct. 24 when he was sentenced to a one-year jail term as part of four years’ probation for first-degree terroristic threatening and felony abuse of his girlfriend.

The threatening occurred the morning of May 25, 2016, when Helmer tried to get his girlfriend to enter a pickup truck at Kamehameha Avenue and Kane Street in Kahului, Deputy Prosecutor David Mincavage said at the sentencing hearing. He said she didn’t want to get in and Helmer tried to hit her with the vehicle several times before she got in so he would stop. Then Helmer punched her, Mincavage said.

About three months later, at 9 p.m. Aug. 24, 2016, Helmer’s girlfriend was five months pregnant with twins when she and Helmer got into an argument at a Lanai City residence, Mincavage said. After punching her in her cheek, Helmer placed her in a chokehold, causing her to feel lightheaded and nearly lose consciousness before he released her, Mincavage said.

The prosecution, defense and 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen had agreed to probation for Helmer, who was required to successfully complete the treatment program.

At the time, Apo said it was “one of the most exceptional plea agreements I’ve been a part of.”

Less than a month after Helmer entered the treatment program, he was administratively discharged after testing positive for methamphetamine use, according to his probation officer.

At a court hearing Wednesday, Helmer said he didn’t know it was methamphetamine when he accepted an offer by someone to vape while he was on a program excursion to the beach. After feeling he was high, he said he turned himself in.

Following his discharge, Helmer was told he could reapply to the program after 30 days, Apo said. He said Helmer had gotten a job and was attending 12-step programs.

His probation officer reported learning later that the program doesn’t accept sexual offenders.

In 2009, Helmer was sentenced as a youthful offender to an eight-year prison term for sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery of a woman who was hitchhiking when she was picked up by a male in a sedan at Hana Highway and Dairy Road in Kahului on Dec. 22, 2005. The male, later identified as Helmer, turned down a cane road before pulling out what appeared to be a handgun and demanding sex, according to police. At the time, Helmer was 16 years old.

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

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