Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two young men accused of stealing and burglary are now behind bars after being arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the Court. A third suspect continues to be at large.

The two young men Jimmy Lealasola, 28, and Penani Sululoto, 29, made their initial appearances in District Court last month.

The two defendants are each charged with one count of stealing and one count of burglary, both class C felonies, punishable by imprisonment for up to seven 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.

Lealasola is facing an additional charge of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), an unclassified felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten, a fine of up to $20,000.

Bail for each defendant is set at $15,000.

Both men have waived their rights for a PX and their cases are bound over to High Court. Their pretrial conference is Aug. 26, 2022.

THE CASE

The government alleges that on May 10, 2022, a man from Tafuna requested the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for assistance regarding an apartment he owns in Fogagogo that had been burglarized by some unknown individuals.

Police investigation discloses that the incident was reported by the landlord on behalf of the tenant who is the owner of the items.

In an interview with police, the victim claimed, he discovered the burglary on May 9, 2022, when he returned home after spending two days with his sister and her family in Aua.

During their investigation, police interviewed neighbors, which led to a woman and her nephew being taken to the TPS for further questioning. The nephew was interviewed in the presence of the woman (aunt).

The nephew told police that on May. 8, at 4 a.m, while he was inside the house playing video games with his young cousin he heard a car pull up in front of his house.

He identified the truck as Jimmy Lealasola’s truck (driven by Lealasola), and Penani Sululoto jumped out from the truck and had in his hands what appeared to be a laptop, which the witness said Sululoto told him to hold on to until he asked him to give it back to him. Sululoto then left and walked towards his home, which is two blocks away from the nephew’s house.

Sululoto was later identified as one of the co-defendants in this matter. He lives about 2 blocks from the witness’s house, and about 60 yards from the victim’s house.

The nephew also stated that on the same day he took the laptop to his other aunt’s house around 7 a.m and told his aunt to keep the laptop he got from Sululoto.

Police officers tried to locate the two suspects on the same day — both were not home at the time.

On May 15, both the witness and his aunt were brought back to the TPS regarding their statements given to the police officers, because the nephew’s written statement, apparently differed in certain details from his initial (oral) interview.

According to the nephew’s written statement, he was specifically asked by Sululoto to hide the laptop at his house, and if asked who owned it, to just tell them it belonged to his friend, Lealasola (co-defendant).

The nephew told investigators that he met up with Lealasola, later in the morning, who told him to give him the laptop.

The nephew  wrote he went to his other aunt’s house, which was two block away from where he lived and got the laptop and took it straight to Lealasola’s home.

On the same day — May 15th — investigators were able to locate Lealasola at his house and took him to the TPS for questioning.

According to Lealasola’s statement to investigators, he and his best friend Sululoto are from the same neighborhood in the Iliili area.

He said on May 8, he received a call from Sululoto asking for a ride to drop off the “laptop” at his cousin’s house and he would pay for the gas.

Lealasola stated that he went with Sululoto to drop off the laptop in Vaitogi, where a transaction transpired —  a man took the laptop and gave Sululoto $100. Sululoto then gave him $40 for gas. Later on that day, Sululoto came by his house and gave him some items including clothes, shoes and 3 pairs of gold earrings.

On May 16, Lealasola returned an iPad and 2 electric drills to the TPS saying that Sululoto gave him the items to keep. This particular iPad and the 2 electric drills were allegedly taken from another burglary case in Ottoville.

(The items were later returned to the owner, and Sululoto and a friend, a 17-year-old juvenile, are charged in this separate case.)

On May 17, Sululoto was picked up by investigators in front of his home and was arrested pursuant a separate warrant from the High Court.

When asked about the burglary case, Sululoto shook his head, and chose not to make a statement to police after he was Mirandized. He was booked and detained at the TCF, while police continued the investigation.

On the morning of May 18, investigators went to Sululoto’s home and met up with his grandfather, who gave police consent to search their house after he was informed about the reason for police presence.

Investigators found several items that were later confirmed to be stolen from the Fogagogo apartment in Sululoto’s bedroom.

Two days later, another male was brought into the TPS for questioning. He is one of the government witnesses in this case. The male identified himself as Sululoto’s best friend and that he witnessed the break-in and burglary while he was hanging out at his girlfriend’s house.

The witness told investigators that he saw Lealasola sitting inside his vehicle as a lookout person, while Sululoto and a friend went inside the house.

Lealasola’s account of the burglary changed after he was questioned again, after his vehicle was pulled over by patrolling police officers on the Nu’uuli public highway during a traffic stop and he was transported to the TPS for further investigation.

Prior to being transported, he was patted down for weapons and drugs, and officers discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance on his person.

Lealasola was Mirandized and agreed to speak with investigators.

When questioned about the alleged burglary, Lealasola admitted that he assisted Sululoto with the burglary. He also admitted that he transported Sululoto to a house in Vaitogi to sell some of the stolen items.

When questioned about the glass pipe discovered inside his pocket, Lealasola said he bought the glass pipe from a friend in Futiga on the day he was arrested by police.

Investigators are still looking for the third suspect in this case. According to the information provided by the two suspects, the third suspect is a friend from Vaigoti.