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Marijuana plea from man with “long criminal history”

Just say no to marijuana logo
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man from Petesa with a long criminal history entered into a plea agreement with the government last week in High Court.

Allen Taai, who is on probation, was initially charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, an unclassified felony, punishable by term of imprisonment of not less than 5 nor more than ten years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both; resisting arrest and second degree assault, both class D felonies; and three 3 misdemeanors: two counts of third degree assault, and public peace disturbance (PPD).

Under a plea agreement with the government, Taai pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of marijuana and 2nd degree assault, both class D felonies, each will be punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

With the guilty plea, Taai admits that on Feb. 16, 2020 in Tafuna he assaulted a man by punching him in the face and striking his head with a metal pipe. According to terms of the plea agreement, on the day of the incident, police responded to a call from someone in the Tafuna area, regarding a disturbance.

When cops arrived, an unknown male who was later identified as Taai, yelled profanities at them and asked them to leave the area. Another man, later identified as the victim in this case, tried to stop Taai from fleeing the scene.

Taai turned around and punched him twice.

The victim fell and that’s when Taai grabbed a metal pipe and struck him on the head while he was lying unconscious on the ground. The victim sustained serious injuries to his head.

Before Taai was transported to the Tafuna Police Substation for questioning, he was patted and during the body search, cops discovered one small stamp-sized baggie containing a green leafy substance, which later tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an active compound in the controlled substance marijuana.

Taai, who is still in custody unable to post bond is scheduled to appear in court on Apr. 28th for sentencing.