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Sentencing postponed for teacher convicted in Post Office meth bust

American Samoa High Court building
Cops place street value of contraband at $90,000
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The case of a 5th grade school teacher convicted of unlawful possession of an illegal substance who appeared before Associate Justice Fiti Sunia yesterday morning for sentencing is now rescheduled for June 16, 2022, after the court ordered that she has to go through the standing procedure the court set out for all people convicted of unlawful possession of illegal drugs who appear in court for sentencing.

Sunia informed both parties including the defendant Mele Moimoi-Mapu that the standing procedure, as set out is for all people convicted of unlawful possession of illegal drugs — is to submit themselves for a drug test on the same morning they appear for sentencing.

Moimoi-Mapu did not submit herself yesterday morning for a drug test.

When the case was called, the defendant and her defense attorney, Public Defender, Michael White addressed the court, followed by a brief statement by the government’s attorney, Assistant Attorney General Kristine Soule’.

Moimoi-Mapu was originally charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) with intent to distribute, a felony punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment, or a fine of not more than $10,000 or both.

However, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government at the beginning of this year, the defendant pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of meth, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Before the defendant was given the chance to address the court, the defense team called a witness to the stand. He is the defendant’s husband, who is also a school teacher.

The witness told the court that his wife of 12 years is a loving person and a good mother for their 3 young children. He said his wife has two jobs because she wants to support their family. He also works as a school teacher to support their children.

The husband stated that their children really need their mother and he asked for a chance to allow his wife to continue be with their children.

When given the chance to speak, the defendant apologized to the court for her action and begged for a second chance to be with her family especially her three young children whom she stated she dearly loves. She said she regrets her action and takes full responsibility for what happened.

She explained to the court that at the time she was having a drug problem and her parents had passed away. She was also terminated from her job after she took money from the church.

During that time, according to the defendant’s statement to the court, she she was raising young children and it was very hard for her to come up with enough money to pay a lot of bills and to support her family.

Moimoi-Mapu told the court that she’s not a perfect person and she tried to be a good mother for her children.

She said she had two jobs, as a 5th grade teacher at a local elementary school and also works part time as a bartender at a local hotel. She told the court that her 15-year-old child kept asking her why she keeps coming before the court and she didn’t have an answer for her.

She said she works hard to pay for her children’s school fees at a private school.

Moimoi-Mapu told the court that because of her bad decision she ended up before the court and she’s truly remorseful for what she did. She asked for a second chance so that she can continue to be with her children and family.

Her defense attorney asked for a probated sentence, stating that she’s truly remorseful and a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

The prosecutor also recommended probation. She told the court that based on the term of the plea agreement the government feels that the defendant is a suitable candidate for probation.

After a brief recess, Sunia informed both parties that the court has a standing procedure when it comes to sentencing people convicted of possession of illegal drugs, including this defendant.

And the standing procedure is for every person convicted of violating local drug laws to get tested by Probation officers on the same morning of sentencing.

The court then ordered the defendant to submit herself for a drug test yesterday morning, and she has to submit herself for a drug test every week until the morning of June 16, where she is now scheduled to appear in court for sentencing.

The court also ordered Probation to keep a record of each of her weekly drug tests for the court to review.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

Mapu, who is accused of receiving nearly two pounds of crystal meth in July of 2017 that authorities estimate to have a street value of about $90,000, through the US Post Office, allegedly told police that she purchased the illegal drugs from an off-island person, to be sold in the territory, as a fast way to make money.

(The term “crystal meth” is short for crystal methamphetamine that is identified as one form of the drug methamphetamine.)

Based on court information the case against the defendant was the result of an incident when Customs officers suspected that illegal drugs were inside a package that that Mapu had received at the Fagatogo Post Office. Customs officers at the Post Office had been alerted by a canine about the possible presence of drugs in the package.

The government stated that when the defendant went to pick up the package, which was suspected to have drugs inside it, Customs officers asked the defendant as to what was inside the package, the defendant allegedly responded “it’s meth”.

The government stated that during the interview, investigators asked the defendant what’s inside the package and the defendant allegedly gave the same answer — “it’ s meth”. The government claimed in court that the crystal meth weighed nearly 2 pounds.

Investigators stated that the estimated street value for the drugs found is about $90,000 based on the current market. According to court information, Mapu allegedly told police that she purchased the meth for $800 from a person she met on Facebook.

Additionally, Mapu does not know this person and has never met the individual and she also does not know where in the world the person lives, according to court information, which also states that Mapu allegedly told police that she bought the meth as a way to make fast money for herself.

Mapu and the Facebook person had continued communicating with each other through emails including exchanging “sex photos” of each other. She claims that her husband didn’ t know about any of her actions.

Investigators reviewed the defendant’s Facebook page as part of the investigation as well as obtaining confirmation that Mapu had in fact communicated with the alleged seller on Facebook. It was at this time that the defendant recanted her story, saying that her previous statement was a lie.