The Maui News

WAILUKU — A woman who burglarized a room at a Kihei resort was sentenced Thursday to an 18-month jail term as part of four years’ probation.

Kiana Sniffen Keaweehu, 26, of Kahului could be released from jail earlier if she enters the Maui Drug Court program of treatment and supervision.

Sniffen Keaweehu, who is on probation in another case, had applied to enter Drug Court, said Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae.

“She’s going to the most intense program we have on Maui and arguably in the state,” he said. “That’s a positive step.”

She had pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

She was charged with burglary for going to WorldMark resort in Kihei and stealing from a room there April 12, said Deputy Prosecutor Mike Kagami. In another case, she broke into a rental vehicle Aug. 31, 2019, he said.

The prosecution agreed not to charge Sniffen Keaweehu with an enhanced penalty for the burglary because it occurred while an emergency order was in place, Raidmae said.

Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill followed a plea agreement between the defense and prosecution in sentencing Sniffen Keaweehu. She was ordered to pay $916 in restitution.