Family fight lands man in TCF for 45 days
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Viliame Filiki, who attempted to pick a fight with his 56-year-old uncle and then assaulted his cousin, has been ordered to serve 45 days at the TCF for violating conditions of his probation. He was already on probation for 24 months after he pled guilty to private peace disturbance and third-degree assault.
Filiki, 30, appeared in court last week for a pretrial conference, where his attorney revealed that both sides had reached an agreement and his client wished to plead guilty to amended charges.
Filiki was initially facing charges in two separate cases.
For the first case, he was charged with public peace disturbance and private peace disturbance. In a separate case, he was charged with third-degree assault and public peace disturbance.
Filiki pled guilty to private peace disturbance in the first case, and third-degree assault in the other. The remaining charges were dismissed.
He admits that on Dec. 29, 2021, while he was drunk, he engaged in a fist fight with his cousin, during which he punched him in the face multiple times.
He also admits that on the same date and time while he was drunk, he disturbed the peace at home by engaging in a verbal argument with his uncle and challenging him to a fight.
With his pleas of guilty in both cases, Filiki admits that he violated conditions of his previous 24-month probation by consuming alcohol and disturbing the peace.
Filiki was placed on probation for 24 months last year following a third-degree assault conviction.
The defense asked the court to adopt the government’s recommendation in their agreement, to give Filiki a probated sentence instead of revoking his probation.
The prosecutor asked the court to sentence Filiki to jail time because not only did he violate conditions of his probation, he also poses a threat to his own family, evident in his engaging in a fight with his cousin.
“You are living a dangerous life sir. You need to change your behavior before it’s too late. Your probation is revoked and you’re ordered to serve 45 days at the TCF in Tafuna,” the court told the defendant.
Filiki was also ordered to serve 15 days for private peace disturbance, and 120 days for third-degree assault.
But the court suspended the execution of the sentences and placed Filipo on probation for 24 months under certain conditions, including keeping the peace at home at all times and staying alcohol and drug free.
The court told Filiki that if he comes back in court again, he will be ordered to serve the suspended imprisonment terms. He was also be ordered to do something good in life and not appear before the court again.