Man sentenced to jail, ordered to pay $72,000 in restitution

He was convicted of burglarizing home as couple hid in closet

WAILUKU -- A man convicted of burglarizing two homes and illegally possessing a shotgun and drugs was sentenced Tuesday to an 18-month jail term as part of four years' probation.

In sentencing Jacob Baylosis, 38, of Makawao, 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill acknowledged comments by a couple who had more than $70,000 in property stolen from their home in Haiku while they hid in a closet in August 2018.

After at first not being able to purchase homeowners insurance following the burglary, the couple said they are paying $2,000 a year more for insurance. The husband said he lost "a lot of things you couldn't put a price on" when his laptop was stolen. "If there's a way to get some restitution, that would help," he said, appearing by videoconference for the hearing.

"I would like him to have a jail sentence because he's not the first person who's broken into my house," the woman said. "Maybe if the judges were tougher on these criminals, they would think twice. I'm sitting in my house, minding my own business, and a guy breaks in with a mask on. The alarm goes off. That doesn't deter him. He took family heirlooms I'll never get back."

First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mike Kagami sought the jail term for Baylosis because of the number of criminal cases against him.

In five cases, Baylosis pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree theft, first-degree hindering prosecution, being a felon in possession of a firearm and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

A heart monitor and hydrocodone pills were among property stolen in another burglary in November 2017 in Wailuku. Baylosis also was charged with stealing quartz crystals from Lumeria, as well as possessing a shotgun and methamphetamine in November 2019.

Also that month, he was charged with hindering prosecution of a man charged in a smash-and-grab burglary at Central Maui Gold & Loan in Kahului.

At his sentencing Tuesday, Baylosis asked to be placed on probation with no jail.

Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae acknowledged that the residents were "cowering in their closet" in the Haiku burglary. "That's terrifying and that's horrible," Raidmae said.

"So what's that worth?" Judge Cahill said. "Four or five million?"

"These monetary figures can't really compensate for that," Raidmae said. "The things that often matter in these scenarios are apologies, saying sorry. Beyond that, the thing that matters is actually doing something about it."

While he was free on bail in his cases, Baylosis had completed drug treatment and has been sober for 10 months, Raidmae said.

He said Baylosis was trying to help set up Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when the pandemic hit.

"When Jacob succeeds, the entire community succeeds and does better," Raidmae said. "He's well on his way."

"I'm truly sorry for what I did," Baylosis said in court. "There's no excuses for what I did.

"I was heavy into my addiction at the time."

Baylosis said he previously was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault, burglary and drug offenses.

In prison, "I didn't get the programming I needed to succeed in life," he said.

The judge asked Baylosis to "tell me what rehabilitation you need in prison that would have taught you not to terrorize them and steal their possessions."

"I'm not that person I was 10 years ago, 10 months ago," Baylosis said. "I've changed. I'm just living a new way of life."

Several friends were in the courtroom gallery to support Baylosis.

"You've done a lot to get better," Cahill told Baylosis. "Maybe your friends should have done a collection to get some money to pay these people back."

Cahill said he had considered sentencing Baylosis to 10 years in prison.

But that would mean the victims would have little hope of getting restitution, Cahill said.

He said he agreed with the victims that Baylosis needed to spend time in jail as part of probation, which would give him a chance to pay restitution.

Baylosis was ordered to pay restitution totaling $72,434.

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