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Defendants in PX theft from 2019 sentenced

American Samoa High Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — US Army Reservist, Herman Tatupu convicted of stealing from the PX and violating local drugs was sentenced to serve 60 days at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) as a condition of his probation.

His co-defendant, Anthony Sanft, also a member of the US Army Reserve was also convicted of violating local drug laws and was sentenced to probation.

Both defendants appeared before Associate Justice Fiti Sunia last week for sentencing. They were both represented by Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Kristine Soule’.

Tatupu and Sanft were each charged in two separate cases.

In the first case, Tatupu and Sanft were each charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony, punishable by imprisonment of 5-10 years, a fine of $5,000-$20,000, or both.

In the second case, each defendant was charged with stealing, a class C felony, punishable by imprisonment up to 7 years, a $5,000 fine, or pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

However in a plea agreement with the government, Tatupu pled guilty to the amended charged of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

He also pled guilty to the amended charge of stealing, a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

Sanft on the other hand pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony.

By his guilty plea, Sanft admits that some time in November 2019, he unlawful possessed methamphetamine.

Tatupu on the other hand also admits that around November in 2019 he possessed methamphetamine and stole items from the PX.

TATUPU’S SENTENCE

When given the chance to address the court, defense attorney Anderson asked the court for a probated sentence for his client. Stating that he has no prior record and took responsibility for his action. Defense’s motion was echoed by the government’s attorney.

After reviewing statements from both parties, the court agreed that a probated sentence is appropriate for this matter.

According to the court, despite his conviction, the defendant is still a member of the US Army Reserve; however, the consequence of his action is that he lost his employment at the LBJ Medical Center. Furthermore, his privilege to access to the PX store was revoked.

Without the help of surveillance camera in the store, his action would not have been discovered.

For the charge of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, Tatupu was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Execution of the imprisonment terms was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for 5 years.

Conditions of Tatupu’s probation include that he shall be law abiding, visit the Probation office once a month and he shall not consume any alcohol beverages nor possess any drugs. He will submit himself for random testing at the demand of any police officer or the Probation office.

Tatupu was ordered to serve a period of detention of 20 months at the TCF. He will be credited for the 5 days he served before he posted bond. The balance of detention was stayed based on good behavior. He is also ordered to pay a fine of $2,000 within 6 months.

For the charge of stealing, the defendant was sentenced to serve a period of imprisonment of one year and a fine of $1,000.

Execution of the period of detention was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for 2 years subject to several conditions. He’s order to serve a period of detention of 60 days at the TCF. He will be credited for the 5 days he served before he posted bond. The remaining 55 days shall be served forthwith.

Sunia ordered that Tatupu was to report to the TCF last Friday by 4 p.m to serve his detention. He’s also order to pay a fine of $1,000.

Both sentences will run concurrently.

SANFT’S SENTENCE

Attorney Anderson asked the court to sentence his client to a term of probation due to the fact that he has no prior record. Anderson stated that his client is remorseful for his action and he spent over 4 months at the TCF before he posted bond.

The prosecutor echoed the defense submission and asked for a probated sentence for the defendant, saying he’s a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

Before the court rendered its decision, Sunia said that the defendant’s conviction stems from an incident where drugs were found is his possession during a traffic stop. The traffic stop related to an incident where the PX store was burglarized and items were stolen.

Sanft was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000. Execution of imprisonment was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for 5 years, subject to several conditions.

He shall serve a period of detention of 20 months at the TCF. He will be credited for the 4-1/2 months he served during his pretrial detention. The balance of detention will be stayed base on his good behavior.

He is ordered to pay a fine of $2,000 within 6 months, remain law abiding and visit the Probation office once a month.

BACKGROUND ON STEALING CASE

It was a manager from the PX who contacted police to report the theft involving the two defendants, who were accused of stealing items from the PX.

At the PX, investigators were shown copies of surveillance videos by the shift manager who reported the matter. In the first video, the manager said she saw Tatupu and Sanft enter the PX before Tatupu made his way to the electronics side where he stood for a few seconds. The video showed Tatupu grabbing a square box from the shelf and hiding it under his armpit, covering the box with an ie lavalava that was hanging over his shoulder before walking out.

The square box contained a speaker that Tatupu sold to the owner of an Asian store in Atuu. Tatupu told the storeowner that he got the speaker from Hawaii.

Investigators reviewed another surveillance video, which showed Sanft enter the PX and making his way to electronics. According to the governent, Sanft grabbed a box from the shelf, hid it under his ie lavalava, and them walked to the back of the PX where he left it.

There’s no evidence from the PX to prove that Sanft paid for the items in the box he allegedly took off the store shelf.

UNLAWFUL POSSESSION CASE

On Nov. 21, 2019 around 2:55p.m, two patrolling officers arrested Tatupu and Sanft from the Troop Store in Tafuna in connection with a possible stealing case. The pair was transported to the Tafuna Substation for questioning.

During a body search on Tatupu, cops found a glass pipe in a small red bag. The white crystalline substance in the glass pipe tested positive for meth.

One hour later, an inventory was conducted on a vehicle (license  #536D), a rental car rented under Sanft’s name.

Cops found a bag of clothes with some Army accessories inside the vehicle. Also discovered was an open box of toothpaste under the driver’s seat. Inside the box was another glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance. Police also found a small stamp sized baggie containing small amounts of a white crystalline substance, which also tested positive as ice.

Sanft told police that although he had the rental vehicle for about a week, he didn’t know who the glass pipe and stamp sized baggie belonged to. He further stated that he smoked meth once (about a year ago), but he didn’t like it and stopped immediately.

Sanft continued to deny that the glass pipe belonged to him. According to a third male who was in the vehicle when police pulled it over, he too was escorted to the Tafuna Substation for questioning. The male told police that Sanft picked him up so he could contact his mechanic for help, but he had no idea that drugs were involved, or that they were stealing from the Troop Store.