Man gets prison time for using stolen vehicles, credit cards

Judge: Crimes show pattern of ‘impulsivity and dangerousness’

WAILUKU -- After being placed on probation for similar crimes a month before reoffending, a Wailuku man was sentenced to five years in prison for driving stolen vehicles, breaking into vehicles, using stolen credit cards and committing other crimes.

"The pattern I see here is one of impulsivity and dangerousness," 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo said in sentencing Kila Kika Kaia last week.

In six criminal cases, Kaia had pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree theft, three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, third-degree assault, four counts of theft of a credit card, first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, second-degree criminal property damage and third-degree assault by mutual affray.

The crimes occurred during a span of nine months from March to December 2019.

During his sentencing Friday, Kaia, 26, asked to be placed on probation, as recommended in a plea agreement between the defense and prosecution.

Sentencing Kaia to probation would be the best way for victims to receive restitution, said Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears.

"He has the ability to move in a different direction in his life," she said.

In a letter to the court, Kaia acknowledged the harm he caused while committing crimes as part of his severe drug addiction, said defense attorney Richard Gronna.

Kaia said he had been "heavy into hard drugs."

"I lost my job, my family pretty much put me out," he said in court. "I no more nothing for show except for this orange uniform right now. To me, I let myself down."

"The hardworking people, I wen' take from them," he said. "They nevah deserve any of that."

Kaia said he was ready to get treatment and associate with better people.

Judge Loo said Kaia previously had been given opportunities to rehabilitate himself, starting at age 19 when he was placed on probation for third-degree assault. He was 20 when he again was placed on probation for abuse.

In June 2019, he was sentenced to probation for theft of a credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card. A month later, Kaia was implicated in additional crimes, including a confrontation with a man and woman trying to recover her son's stolen car July 22, 2019, on a dirt road at Kaa Point in Kahului.

The couple confronted Kaia, who was in the stolen 1996 Honda Civic, and he was seen making a phone call before others pulled up in two vehicles, according to police. Two men in the group had guns that they pointed toward the woman's boyfriend, witnesses said. The suspects fled, leaving the stolen vehicle behind, and were later located by police.

Kaia was identified on video surveillance in other crimes.

"A lot of times you were wearing the same kind of clothing," Loo said.

She said Kaia was in jail in December when he kneed another inmate in the face, breaking his nose, according to police.

"You should socially distance yourself from other people's cars, other people's credit cards and other inmates' noses," Judge Loo told Kaia.

He was ordered to pay $1,323 in restitution as part of his sentence.

In another sentencing Wednesday, one of Kaia's co-defendants in the Kaa Point confrontation was placed on four years' probation.

Krayston Ako Kealoha, 30, of Kihei had pleaded no contest to first-degree terroristic threatening, with robbery and other charges dismissed.

Ako Kealoha "made a stupid decision to help a friend that called for help," said his attorney, Elizabeth Cuccia.

She said he told police what happened and called his wife to retrieve the weapon he brandished.

"He did not have an actual firearm," Cuccia said. "It was an airsoft toy gun."

Judge Loo noted that the black airsoft pistol was described as "realistic looking."

In a letter to the court, his mother described Ako Kealoha as a "follower."

"I don't know if you were the follower," Loo told Ako Kealoha. "It's like a pack of dogs. The view never changes unless you're the lead dog. You can't be hanging around with people like this. You can't be involved in crimes like this."

As part of his probation, he was ordered to have no contact with Kaia, as well as other co-defendants Keanuokekai Kamai Uwekoolani, Pamela Newton and Chivalry Asuncion Kalilikane.

Ako Kealoha was given credit for more than five months he spent in jail. He was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and complete anger management treatment. He also was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to write letters apologizing to the victims.

The black pistol was forfeited to the state.

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