Judge gives man ‘opportunity’ with lesser sentence

He pleaded no contest to theft and property crime charges

A Second Circuit Judge said Thursday he would give a 27-year-old man "an opportunity" by not sending him to prison for 10 years for more than 10 new and old criminal cases, instead sentencing him to two five-year terms to be served concurrently.

"Do you deserve it?" Judge Peter Cahill asked Kamuela Kamaki Auhoon, who pleaded no contest to multiple car theft and habitual property crime charges.

"And the answer is 'no,' " Cahill said.

But Cahill wondered aloud if Auhoon earned the chance for a lesser sentence.

Cahill noted Auhoon's letter to the court, in which he apologized to the court, the community and the victims that he hurt with his "bad choices."

In the letter, which Cahill read aloud, Auhoon said he wanted to become part of the community again and asked for forgiveness.

"I want you to succeed," Cahill said in delivering his sentence.

Instead of handing down two consecutive five-year prison terms, which the prosecution requested and Cahill said he was going to do, the judge gave Auhoon a five-year prison term for nine cases in 2019, and resentenced him to the same terms for five cases from 2016 to 2018 since he violated probation in those cases by committing the new crimes. Auhoon will serve the terms concurrently.

"This is not a life I want to live anymore," Auhoon said during sentencing.

He apologized to his victims and the community, saying, "they don't deserve that."

Auhoon said he has made changes in his life and that he is allowed to clean modules and do laundry in jail. He also attends church.

He also said he recently missed his son's birthday and hadn't seen him since 2019.

"I'm tired of this life. I want to do anything possible to change for everybody. I will take my responsibility," Auhoon added.

He also aspires to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist but added that he loves cooking and had worked at Morimoto Maui at Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort.

But Deputy Prosecutor Brandon Segal asked for two consecutive five-year prison terms for Auhoon, noting his long criminal history including an old case which included abuse.

He noted that Auhoon was sentenced to probation prior to his nine criminal cases in 2019. He added that Auhoon had done poorly on probation and that rehabilitation and probation is "useless for this defendant."

But Deputy Public Defender Jeffrey Wolfenbarger told the court that when Auhoon got out of jail prior to committing the new offenses in 2019, he lived with his father and had been taking courses at the Family Peace Center.

However, when his father died in 2019, Auhoon "lost hope" and went back to what was easy for him, which was committing crimes, Wolfenbarger said. he said that Auhoon is tired of how his family looks at him as well as how he is perceived on the island.

He added that Auhoon deals with mental health and substance abuse issues and asked for a five-year prison term to run concurrently for the new and old cases.

Auhoon was also ordered to pay around $19,000 in restitution to individuals and insurance companies.

The majority of Auhoon's charges were for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, habitual property crime, second-degree theft, possession of drug paraphernalia along with third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, according to court records.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.