Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Drug defendant gets a second chance from the court, after his tearful plea for the court’s indulgence to return home to care for his young children.

Silila Faamanatu, who has been in jail since June appeared before the court for sentencing last week. Faamanatu, who has a criminal history in District Court , was initially charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and a count of unlawful possession of marijuana.

However he pleaded guilty to the amended charge and admits that on June 21st, 2021, he unlawfully possessed a glass pipe and a small stamped size baggie containing meth. The remaining charges were dismissed by the court as part of the plea agreement.

When given a chance to address the court, Faamanatu tearfully apologized for his actions and pleaded for a second chance for him to return home to care for his four young children. He told the court that 5 months after his arrest, he has received tragic news about the passing away of his grandmother, who had been looking after his children.

The children’s ages range from 7 to 16 years old. His wife left him and his children in 2019 and she living with another man in Alaska and he relied on his grandmother to care for his children while he was working to provide for the family.

“My grandmother, who is like a mother to my children, left me without saying a word and my young children were left home motherless while I am still in custody,” Faamanatu tearfully told the court, adding that “all these problems his family had to face [was] because of his careless act. I don’t blame anybody for what had happened to my family but I blame myself for choices that I made.”

His defense attorney said that his client is truly remorseful for his actions and was employed for many years providing for his family before he was arrested in June of this year.

He told the court that his client has faced a lot of challenges in life ever since he was arrested. Not only the loss of his grandmother, his job but his wife also left him and his children. The defense attorney told the court that his client is ready to seek and secure gainful employment if the court releases him to go back home.

The government’s attorney asked the court to adopt the recommendation by the Probation Office. Furthermore, the government believes that the defendant is truly remorseful for his actions and needs to be home with his young children.

In delivering its decision, the court stated that the defendant is a mature person who can make good choices in life, however, he was arrested for a poor decision he made when police pulled over his vehicle last years ago for a traffic violation and drugs were discovered inside his vehicle.

The court said that traffic stops by police officers for traffic violations are one of the common reasons why people are coming into court when cops discover illegal drugs in their vehicles.

According to the court, those are the facts - that’s why people are coming into court on a daily basis.

The court said that the defendant may have paid the price with the loss of his grandmother while he was in custody, but that’s not the price imposed by law. The defendant is over 44 years old but he made a bad choice, which affected his life and also his family’s future.

According to the court, a tearful plea from the defendant over the wrong choice may have some weight on the court based on lack of judgment, but a tearful plea from an adult and a family man did not sit well with the court, because he made the choice with his understanding that there are consequences for his action. Through his own choice, the defendant ignored the opportunity to be a good father.

Having said that, after considering all factors of the case, the court said it feels that the defendant is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

Faamanatu was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine; however, the execution of the sentence was suspended and the defendant was placed on five years probation on the condition that he serve 20 months at the TCF. He will be credited for the 16 months he served during his pretrial detention, and the court will defer the balance of his detention.

Faamanatu is ordered not to possess illegal drugs or consume any alcohol, and he is subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

He was given 90 days to seek and secure gainful employment.

The court informed the defendant that the court is giving him the opportunity to make good on his tearful plea to return home to provide for his family.

“This opportunity is the only opportunity for you to prove yourself. You stated and promised that you will never come to this court again for this offense. We say to you don’t come back to this court for any offenses. If you violate any of these conditions, you will do 5 years at TCF, no more ‘if and but’,” the court advised the defendant.