LIHU‘E — A Kalihiwai man whose methamphetamine-trafficking case languished in the state court system for over a year was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison. Jonathan R. Adams, 38, was arrested in mid-August 2008 for allegedly selling crystal meth
LIHU‘E — A Kalihiwai man whose methamphetamine-trafficking case languished in the state court system for over a year was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Jonathan R. Adams, 38, was arrested in mid-August 2008 for allegedly selling crystal meth to an undercover police officer, according to county Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar and court records.
Originally charged with three counts of second-degree meth trafficking, in a plea agreement Adams pleaded guilty in mid-May to three counts of second-degree promotion of dangerous drugs, a class B felony.
He had originally faced up to 60 years in prison, but Kollar and state Deputy Public Defender John Calma agreed to ask 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe to honor the terms of the plea agreement and run the 10-year terms consecutively.
After his arrest last year and his arraignment the following day, where he entered a not-guilty plea and requested a jury trial, five jury-trial dates for Adams came and went, the last in early May that was continued at Calma’s request to allow plea negotiations to continue, according to court records.
Sentencing was also continued twice until it finally happened late last month, with the first continuance in late July due to Calma’s having just received the pre-sentencing investigation report.
Sentencing was continued again in mid-August as Calma was seeking to get his client into the Kaua‘i Drug Court program. That attempt was opposed by Kollar.
Court officer Jack Viohl told Watanabe during last month’s final sentencing hearing that Adams was a candidate for Kaua‘i Drug Court, but Viohl would defer to state Adult Probation Services officers, whose report is much more in-depth, according to state court records.
