William Keliihoomalu IV was sentenced to a 20-year prison term Tuesday in 2nd Circuit Court for the robbery of Tokyo Lounge in April 2017. The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo

WAILUKU — A man who admitted he participated in robbing a Wailuku business was sentenced Tuesday to a 20-year prison term.

“Sorry to the community for my actions,” William Keliihoomalu IV, 32, of Wailuku said as he was sentenced.

Police identified Keliihoomalu and co-defendant Kapuaoheoheonolaniehiku Harrell as the two masked men who broke a door to enter Tokyo Lounge at about 10 p.m. April 24, 2017.

According to police, Keliihoomalu had a Ruger .223-caliber Mini-14 rifle, which he pointed at patrons in the back gaming room of the business at 315 Hookahi St. After a patron grabbed the rifle from Keliihoomalu, the men struggled over the weapon before Keliihoomalu grabbed the rifle back and ran, police said.

Harrell had a baseball bat and took the owner’s purse containing cash as he fled, police said.

Keliihoomalu had pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery.

In court, he said he had been “trying to enforce something that’s not my duty.”

In exchange for his plea, the prosecution agreed to recommend to the Hawaii Paroling Authority that Keliihoomalu serve as little time as possible before being eligible for parole, said his attorney, Richard Gronna.

Keliihoomalu had been released on supervision in April 2018 before being taken back into custody in August, when he was originally set to be sentenced. Keliihoomalu agreed to be incarcerated as part of his requested delay in his sentencing so he could provide more information for the parole board.

“Being honest to what I did wrong and being accountable to what I did wrong actually gave me true freedom on the inside,” Keliihoomalu said.

“Fifteen years of my life I have been in drugs, drug addiction, criminal addiction,” he said. “I’m just grateful for the past year. Supervised release got me some clean time.”

Keliihoomalu had done well while he was released on supervision, said 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill.

He said he remembered Keliihoomalu’s graduation in 2016 from the Maui Drug Court program of intensive treatment and supervision.

“By your letter, it’s pretty obvious you did learn from Drug Court,” Cahill told Keliihoomalu.

“Any time you have any questions about anything, you only need to do one thing — find a mirror,” Cahill said. “Go to the front of a mirror, look at the greatest enemy you’re ever going to face — it’s you.”

The case against Harrell, 30, of Kahului is on hold while he appeals a court ruling, according to court records. In addition to the first-degree robbery charge, Harrell is facing drug charges in two other cases.

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