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WAILUKU -- An inmate was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for assaulting a Maui Community Correctional Center guard, who is still recovering from injuries he suffered in the attack more than three years ago.
"The bottom line is the victim has suffered severely from the beating you gave him," said 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill, who followed a plea agreement in sentencing Dallas Nakoa-Kaauamo on Tuesday.
Nakoa-Kaauamo, 25, had pleaded guilty to first-degree assault.
The assault occurred Oct. 27, 2018, when adult corrections officer Bert Sam Fong was kicked and punched more than 10 to 15 times by Nakoa-Kaauamo, who was an inmate at the Wailuku jail, according to state Department of Public Safety reports.
Sam Fong, who was 74 years old, had called the inmate into a sally port to inform him about the policy on pencils and how they needed to be returned when the inmate disagreed and became agitated, the reports said.
The guard reported some of the inmate's kicks were landed to his face, opening a gash near his right cheek.
The adult corrections officer suffered serious injuries, including injuries to his brain, and "has not fully physically recovered," Deputy Prosecutor Mike Kagami said in December when Nakoa-Kaauamo pleaded guilty.
Nakoa-Kaauamo said he has been picked on because of his sexuality.
He said the adult corrections officer hit his head on a mailbox and the ground but acknowledged, "I did kick and punch him."
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Gina Gormley said Nakoa-Kaauamo is about to finish serving a five-year prison term.
"He is anxious to see the parole board," which will determine how much of the 10-year prison sentence he must serve before being eligible for parole, Gormley said.
She said Nakoa-Kaauamo had obtained the equivalent of a high school diploma while incarcerated and wanted to receive treatment while in prison.
When he is released, he wants to go to Tennessee, where he has an aunt, she said.
"He does not wish to remain on Maui," she said. "He doesn't have a lot of support here."
Appearing by videoconference from Halawa Correctional Facility, where he has been incarcerated, Nakoa-Kaauamo said, "I'm in a better place now, trying to work on myself."
"I'm trying to get off the rock, get out of Maui or Hawaii in general," he said.
He also said he felt the Wailuku jail "needs to work on their policies and procedure."
"I was in the hall," he said. "I wasn't supposed to be out of my room, I was supposed to be shackled and handcuffed."
At the time, the Department of Public Safety said its practices to prevent assaults on guards were "sound."
Nakoa-Kaauamo already has spent about three years and two months in jail since being charged in the assault. He was ordered to pay $547 in restitution.
At the time of the assault, Nakoa-Kaauamo was being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center while awaiting sentencing or resentencing in seven criminal cases, according to court records.
In January 2019, he was sentenced to five years in prison for three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, seven counts of first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, two counts of second-degree theft, eight counts of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, five counts of theft of a credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card, court records show.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.