LIHU‘E — A Lihu‘e man could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine after taking a hotel golf cart for a joy ride. Jerwin C. Halog, 21, pleaded guilty last week to the class
LIHU‘E — A Lihu‘e man could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine after taking a hotel golf cart for a joy ride.
Jerwin C. Halog, 21, pleaded guilty last week to the class C felony of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle before 5th Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano recently, and has asked the court to grant a motion for a deferred acceptance of guilty plea that could mean he serves little or no prison time and may have his record cleared if he doesn’t commit any more crimes.
That propelled vehicle was a golf cart valued at $5,000 that Halog admitted to taking from the Brennecke’s Beach Broiler parking lot in Po‘ipu during an early morning in mid-2008.
Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club employees had parked the cart there, Halog saw it unattended, the keys were in it, and he hopped in and drove away, according to county First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lori Wada.
A Kaua‘i Police Department officer pulled over Halog while Halog was driving the cart on a public road, Wada said.
Valenciano asked Halog why he was pleading guilty, and Halog said, “I did it. I’m guilty.”
Hawai‘i law provides for discharge and dismissal of charges, and expungement of records, when a defendant voluntarily pleads guilty and is not likely in the court’s opinion to again engage in a criminal course of conduct, and the ends of justice and welfare of society do not require that the defendant shall presently suffer the penalty imposed by law.
A pre-sentencing diagnostic report will be prepared, and Valenciano advised Halog he should participate in that preparation. Valenciano set a mid-January 2010 court date on the motion for the deferred acceptance of guilty plea and sentencing.
