Trending
WAILUKU -- A man who was given another chance on probation through the Maui Drug Court and "doubled down on his criminality" was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sione Finefeuiaki, 36, of Wailuku absconded from the program of intensive treatment and supervision before he was arrested and charged with new crimes last year, said Deputy Prosecutor Kenton Werk.
"The defendant is virtually unmatched in his level of criminality," Werk said, in arguing for consecutive prison terms for Finefeuiaki when he was sentenced March 4. "This defendant decided to double down, if not triple down, on lawlessness."
Finefeuiaki's criminal history includes 28 felony and eight misdemeanor convictions, as well as 10 other convictions, Werk said.
He said Finefeuiaki's first convictions, at age 20 in 2006, were for two counts of first-degree assault, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, two counts of first-degree criminal property damage, reckless driving, resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle and driving without a license.
"The underlying facts were bad enough to earn him a 10-year prison sentence," Werk said.
When Finefeuiaki was released, "he went on a crime spree" that included "21 new felony offenses with numerous new victims in our community in a period of less than three months," Werk said.
In February 2020, Finefeuiaki was sentenced to an 18-month jail term as part of probation, only to face revocation of his probation by November 2020 because he had stopped reporting to his probation officer, was using drugs and didn't comply with required drug treatment, Werk said.
To avoid prison, Finefeuiaki entered the Drug Court program in July. He was in the program for a month when he was discharged from a drug treatment program "for flagrantly violating their program guidelines," Werk said.
He said Finefeuiaki was ordered to report back to Drug Court but instead absconded and allegedly committed more felony crimes.
"The citizens of Maui have suffered enough from this defendant's lawlessness and they deserve longer than 10 years' protection," Werk said in seeking a 15-year prison term for Finefeuiaki.
Defense attorney David Wiltsie asked the court to limit a prison term to 10 years.
That would give Finefeuiaki the chance to be paroled and return to the community, Wiltsie said. "Criminality tends to tail out with age," he said.
Finefeuiaki said he was ready to get drug treatment.
"I know I made some mistakes in my life," he said. "I pray for every victim and I pray for the community. I didn't mean to hurt anybody."
Second Circuit Judge Kelsey Kawano said Finefeuiaki had been given opportunities to apply for long-term drug treatment programs in 2020 but he wasn't interested.
Then last year, he had the chance to participate in the "highest, most extensive treatment available in the state" through Drug Court, Kawano said.
"I don't want to say that we are giving up on you," Kawano told Finefeuiaki. "I do want to say that probation is very definitely not appropriate. The only thing left for you is a prison term."
In seven criminal cases, Finefeuiaki was sentenced to 10-year prison terms for five counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition, keeping a firearm in an improper place and carrying a loaded firearm on a public highway. He was sentenced to five-year prison terms for five counts of second-degree theft, four counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, prohibited possession of ammunition, keeping ammunition in an improper place and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
In ordering that Finefeuiaki serve the prison terms at the same time, Judge Kawano noted that the 2017, 2018 and 2019 cases had been packaged together for Drug Court. He said Finefeuiaki could face consecutive sentencing if he is convicted in a pending case from his arrest last year. In that case, he has pleaded not guilty to first-degree criminal property damage, first-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, habitual property crime, resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle, driving under the influence of drugs, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and possessing drug paraphernalia.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.