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The Maui News
WAILUKU -- A woman who was released from jail on supervision Tuesday was back in custody the same day after she was arrested on a warrant alleging she previously had broken into a vehicle and used a stolen credit card.
Nicole Feliciano, 45, of Wailuku was on a list of inmates eligible to be released under a state Supreme Court order issued Monday to reduce overcrowding at the Maui Community Correctional Center and other Neighbor Island jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She was being held in lieu of $60,000 bail in four criminal cases before being released Tuesday when she appeared in 2nd Circuit Court.
After she was arrested later the same day on the warrant charging her with first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, credit card theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and second-degree theft, Feliciano made an initial appearance Wednesday in Wailuku District Court.
Deputy Prosecutor Anthony Herndon asked for her bail to be increased from $9,000 to $40,000, noting she is charged with similar crimes in the four other cases. The charges in those cases include multiple counts of first- and second-degree theft, first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, credit card theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
Feliciano was released from jail on supervision on April 2 when she pleaded no contest to some charges in the four cases.
Less than a month later, on April 23, the new crimes reportedly occurred, Herndon said.
Feliciano was set to be sentenced Aug. 18 in the four cases but asked to withdraw her pleas and was taken into custody when her bail was set at $60,000, court records show.
Feliciano has 15 prior convictions, including four for felony offenses of second-degree theft and three counts of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, Herndon said.
"She's been through Drug Court and had a number of similar convictions dismissed," he said.
Feliciano asked to be released on supervision Wednesday.
"She's a mother," said Deputy Public Defender William Pannell. "She wants to handle these matters out of custody, especially because of the increased risk of possibly getting sick in custody."
Judge Kirstin Hamman increased bail to $20,000 for Feliciano.
She was ordered to stay away from the victim and her residence in Napili.