Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The driver of a vehicle pulled over by police in Vailoa for blacked out tail lights is now charged with violating local drug laws.

On July 24, 2020 about 11p.m, a vehicle was pulled over by traffic officers on the Vailoa Public Highway, westbound, after they observed it had blacked out tail lights. Officers approached the driver, who was later identified as Anthony Anesone, the defendant in this matter. Police explained to Anesone the reason for the vehicle stop.

According to the government, Anesone did not possess a driver’s license nor did he have any sort of identification on him. He was told the vehicle would be impounded at the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) because he didn’t have a driver’s license.

A pat down search of the defendant resulted in a glass pipe commonly used to smoke methamphetamine, with some white residue in it, being found in Anesone’s pants pocket.

The white residue inside the glass pipe was tested utilizing a field test, the test yielded positive results for methamphetamine.

Anesone told investigators he found the pipe inside the vehicle, and when he was being stopped by police he became nervous and scared — so he grabbed it and put it inside his pants pocket.

Anesone made his initial appearance in District Court last month. He is represented by Ryan Anderson while prosecuting the case is Laura Garvey.

Anesone is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten years and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $20,000, or both.

Bail is set at $5,000.

FA’AMANUTU NAASONA

A man allegedly found with two glass pipes containing methamphetamine inside his vehicle when police pulled him over for a traffic violation last year has been finally arrested and charged.

The question as to why the government waited so long to charge Faamanatu Naasona in this case is still unanswered.

According to the government’s case, two police officers patrolling the public highways in the Tafuna area on Sept. 15, 2019 observed a vehicle heading westbound at a high speed and the driver was not wearing his seatbelt. Officers followed the vehicle and made a traffic stop in front of American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) headquarters in Tafuna.

The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Fa’amanatu Naasona, the defendant in this case. When asked for his driver’s license, Naasona told police he had forgotten his driver’s license at home, and had no other form of photo identification with him.

Police then informed Naasona that they were going to impound his vehicle because he didn’t have a driver’s license to operate the vehicle on a public highway. Furthermore, he was also being transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.

Before Naasona was transported to the TPS, police conducted a body search and nothing was found. The search then moved to the vehicle where police discovered a black pouch between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. Inside the black pouch were two glass pipes containing white powder.

The white powder was later tested and the result was positive for methamphetamine.

After being informed of his constitutional rights, Naasona refused to make a statement to police.

Naasona was arrested by police last month and made his initial appearance in District Court.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony.

Bail is set at $5,000.

During the initial appearance proceedings, Naasona’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Bob Stuart informed the court that his client wished to exercise his rights to a preliminary examination (PX).

THE PX

It was during the PX last week that the government called their only witness to the stand, Det. Toia Levao, who was also the lead investigator in this case.

In cross examination, the defense attorney asked about the timeline for the testing for the white powder contained inside the two glass pipes. Det. Levao stated to the court that the test was conducted after Naasona was released from the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) where he was held for 48 hours.

Defense asked the witness why the government waited so long to file their case against his client. The witness replied that he didn’t have an answer to that question.