LIHU‘E — The third defendant in a 2010 assault weapons case was granted a deferred sentence Thursday in 5th Circuit Court. Henry N. Rabot, 77, pleaded no contest in March 19 on two counts of an unlawful place to keep
LIHU‘E — The third defendant in a 2010 assault weapons case was granted a deferred sentence Thursday in 5th Circuit Court.
Henry N. Rabot, 77, pleaded no contest in March 19 on two counts of an unlawful place to keep an unloaded firearm. He had been charged with three felony firearms violations.
State Deputy Public Defender Stephanie Sato said Rabot pleaded in the case against the advice of counsel. She said he wanted to take responsibility for the weapons.
Sato produced letters of support and pointed out that Rabot’s spouse and son were in court. She said Rabot is not a person that would likely be in court again.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Melinda Mendes said the defendant pleaded after testifying in a co-defendant’s trial that the weapons belonged to him. She said the state objected to the deferment because of a prior weapons charge.
Mendes asked the court to order the forfeit of Rabot’s two semi-automatic weapons that were confiscated at the time of the arrest. The guns included a Sturm Ruger Mini-30 and a Poly Technologies AK-47S.
Chief Judge Randal Valenciano granted the deferment for a period of five years. This would allow Rabot to request the charges be stricken from his record upon successful completion of probation.
Rabot will remain on probation during that time and must attend the hunter safety course offered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, according to the sentencing order.
The two codefendants in the case have already resolved their cases.
A 5th Circuit jury found Alfredo Asuncion, 74, of Kapa‘a, not guilty of ammunition and firearms charges after a five-day trial in March.
Shawn Kealiiloa Aviguetero, 30, of Hanapepe, was sentenced in May to one-year probation and a hunting safety course for unlawfully keeping ammunition in a vehicle. The court granted deferral to the misdemeanor plea he entered in March.
The three were arrested in February 2010 for having weapons and ammunition in a truck near a Westside farming area. They allegedly have a shared interest in guns found in their possession.
