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WAILUKU -- A man who said he relapsed after many opportunities for drug treatment was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison.
Cullen Shimabukuro, 33, of Kihei had asked to be placed on probation so he could continue in treatment. "I'm trying," he said in court.
"I know you're trying," 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo told Shimabukuro. "The problem is you've been given so many prior chances."
She said a report showed Shimabukuro tested positive for drug use April 19 and noted that he needed to continue changing his "antisocial values."
In two criminal cases, he had pleaded no contest to second-degree theft and two counts of habitual property crime.
In one case, Shimabukuro and another man broke into the Haggai Institute spiritual retreat in Kihei on Feb. 11, 2018, going through a chain-link fence, wooden gate and locked room, said Deputy Prosecutor Sally Tobin.
Two days later, he and a woman went to Macy's at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center. While she distracted a salesclerk, Shimabukuro took several pairs of sunglasses valued at more than $800 and put them in his pocket, Tobin said. She said he was seen on video surveillance.
The prosecution didn't ask for additional jail for Shimabukuro because of his progress in treatment.
After being released on supervision March 31, 2020, Shimabukuro completed a long-term residential treatment program on Oahu and was continuing in intensive outpatient treatment on Maui, said Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears.
"He's been compliant for the past year," she said. "He has turned his life around.
"He has been working very hard to go in the right direction."
She said relapse was part of recovery.
In sentencing Shimabukuro to prison, Judge Loo noted that he did poorly on probation in the past and had been given chances for treatment, including through the Maui Drug Court program. He graduated from the program in 2017 before he "began to revert back," testing positive for methamphetamine use in 2018, Loo said.
"You didn't just fall off the wagon," she told Shimabukuro. "You jumped off head first."
She said his positive drug test last month occurred a month before his sentencing.
"How is that getting better?" Loo said. "How many drug treatment programs do you have to go through before you finally learn?"
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.