LIHU‘E — Over the course of three weeks last month, Sadie Kunishige was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison for separate theft and drug-paraphernalia charges. Kunishige, 24, of Puhi, received five years probation in both a 2005
LIHU‘E — Over the course of three weeks last month, Sadie Kunishige was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison for separate theft and drug-paraphernalia charges.
Kunishige, 24, of Puhi, received five years probation in both a 2005 case of drug and paraphernalia possession (the drug charge was dropped in exchange for her guilty plea to the paraphernalia possession charge), and a 2009 theft and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle case (the UEMV charge was dropped in exchange for her guilty plea in that case).
Edmund Acoba, state deputy public defender who represented Kunishige, asked 5th Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano to abide by terms of a plea agreement and sentence Kunishige to five years probation and no more than six months in jail in the 2009 theft case.
Acoba asked Valenciano to look at Kunishige as she appeared before him last month and the Kunishige who had for years been in total denial of her alcohol problem.
“This case was a turning point for her,” after her arrest where she was found drunk and sleeping beneath the vehicle she had illegally entered, said Acoba.
She has accepted the fact that she needs help, has a solid support group (many of them were present in court the day of her theft sentencing), and is clean and sober, Acoba said.
“We’re asking your honor to give her a chance,” Acoba said.
“I take my sobriety very seriously,” said Kunishige, adding that as of last month she had been sober 10 months and planned on staying in a clean-and-sober house until she found a place of her own.
She also said she completed an intensive rehabilitation program, and remains in after-care, through Hina Mauka.
“Too many chances. Too many chances,” said Valenciano, who has seen Kunishige in his courtroom repeatedly over the last several years. “And you’re back in front of me again.”
This incident is “relatively minor” in terms of severity, he said, but what’s not minor is her reappearance in his court and her criminal record.
Valenciano imposed a nine-month prison sentence to start immediately, in addition to time already served. He also sentenced her to 300 hours of community service in the 2009 theft case.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.
