Repeat offender sent to jail

LIHUE — A Kalaheo man was sentenced a second time in two months for theft charges in 5th Circuit Court.

Brandon Ikaika Scribner, 22, will serve a year in jail and four years of felony probation for two cases involving theft.

County Second Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Vogt said one crime occurred last April when the defendant attempted to leave Walmart with more than $1,200 worth of unpaid merchandise. The other occurred in October 2012 when he drove away from the Koloa Big Save with $117.41 worth of unpaid liquor.

The defendant has a lengthy juvenile record and has already been sentenced for one felony offense as an adult by Judge Kathleen Watanabe on Oct. 16, Vogt said.

Scribner received one year in jail and probation after pleading no contest to first-degree terroristic threatening and third-degree assault in those cases.

At the Thursday hearing, Vogt recommended one year in jail and probation with the Hawaii Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program.

State deputy public defender Samuel Jajich said the defendant has matured and wants to lead a law-abiding life. He is working to address a drug and alcohol abuse issue that is the underlying cause of his loss of self-control and behavior, he said.

Chief Judge Randal Valenciano told the defendant he was building up quite a record with 48 police contacts and 20 arrests without including the juvenile offenses.

In the future, he said it would be easier for the court to sentence him to straight prison terms.

“You are only 22,” Valenciano said. “You are not getting any younger and you could spend much of your life in prison if you don’t make some changes.”

Scribner will get four months credit for time already served. He can be released to an in-patient addiction rehabilitation program for six months or more. He was also ordered to pay restitution for the Koloa theft.