LIHUE — A Kapaa man already serving time was sentenced Thursday in 5th Circuit Court to another 10-year sentence for burglaries against neighbors and the elderly. Chief Judge Randal Valenciano said the defendant’s behavior and prior criminal history made this
LIHUE — A Kapaa man already serving time was sentenced Thursday in 5th Circuit Court to another 10-year sentence for burglaries against neighbors and the elderly.
Chief Judge Randal Valenciano said the defendant’s behavior and prior criminal history made this an easy sentencing. After the court invested resources including drug court that resulted in the dismissal of felony charges, the defendant relapsed and was charged with new crimes.
“There is no other option to the court,” said Valenciano, who also ordered Fajardo to pay $10,510.05 in restitution to First Hawaiian Bank.
Shawn HK Fajardo, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the first-degree burglary of the Kapaa residence of Fred and Lucinda Ancheta on Feb. 25, 2012.
Lucinda said in court that her home was burglarized “not by a stranger, but by my very next door neighbor.” It was a person she knew, and had befriended and trusted.
Fajardo allegedly broke into the home while the couple was gone for a weekend to attend a wedding. He stole $1,000 worth of jewelry that is now in evidence after being recovered from a gold dealer.
The morning after she learned of the burglary, Lucinda said Fajardo showed up at their back door with a plate of blueberry muffins. The next day he asked the couple for a ride to his job.
“He is a con artist and a manipulator,” she said.
The experience has destroyed Lucinda’s sense of safety and trust, she added. When entering her home she cannot stop the feeling that someone has been there and taken things. She has heightened sensitivity regarding crime to the point of distraction in conversations with friends.
“I hope that the court gives him the maximum sentence allowed by law so that he won’t be able to victimize others like me and my husband,” Lucinda said.
Fajardo was sentenced to another 10-year prison term for identity theft, unauthorized computer access and use of a computer in the commission of a crime. He was sentenced to one year for third-degree theft and 30 days for a fourth-degree theft charge.
The 157-count criminal complaint involved crimes between April 4 and June 21, 2012 against George and Mariam Adams. The couple hired Fajardo to help them move into their Kapaa home and the thefts that followed totaled more than $18,000.
Mariam spoke in court about how she kept the news of the thefts from her 90-year-old husband, a Pearl Harbor survivor who was suffering from pneumonia. He passed away prior to the prosecution of the case.
“I thought if I told him that he might have a heart attack,” she said.
Two or three boxes of checks were missing, and the couple’s bank account was emptied before they could take action, Mariam said. Fajardo was assertive in asking for chores and what really hurt, she added, was that he presented himself in the giving spirit of aloha.
Fajardo was “playing games, cheating and lying,” Mariam said. She could forgive him in her heart but could not forget what happened and hopes that he will have a change of heart and lifestyle.
Fajardo apologized to the court and the victims. After falling back down a dark path in life, Fajardo said he is hopeful that there will still be time to make a change.
State Deputy Public Defender Samuel Jajich said the defendant understands that this is a very bad situation involving the betrayal of trust of the neighbors and the elderly. He graduated from drug court but unfortunately the methamphetamine addiction was so strong that he relapsed and re-offended.
“He is very remorseful and I believe he is sincerely sorry,” Jajich said. “At this point the past is the past and he has taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty.”
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Tobin asked for the full 10-year prison term. He said the court invested resources and gave the defendant every opportunity.
As a drug court graduate who completed in-patient rehabilitation, Fajardo re-offended less than a year later, Tobin said. He has not performed well in programs offered while incarcerated.
Fajardo changed his plea to guilty of first-degree burglary and second-degree theft in the Ancheta case on July 22.
The plea deal also included the Adams case, involving fourth-degree theft, seven counts of second-degree forgery, seven counts of second-degree identity theft, four counts of second-degree unauthorized computer access, eight counts of second-degree theft, four counts of using a computer in the commission of a separate crime, six counts of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, two counts of third-degree identity theft, and one count of third-degree theft.
The sentencings will run concurrent with an Aug. 22 sentence for second-degree theft.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe sentenced Fajardo to a five-year prison term. The plea deal involved three cases and 32 felonies, including another case involving the Adams couple.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
