LIHUE — A Kapaa man who lost his probation on a sex assault conviction was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday in 5th Circuit Court. Jay-B Dillian Taboniar, 21, was facing a 10-year prison sentence for losing probation
LIHUE — A Kapaa man who lost his probation on a sex assault conviction was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday in 5th Circuit Court.
Jay-B Dillian Taboniar, 21, was facing a 10-year prison sentence for losing probation on his four violations.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe said that Taboniar was sanctioned to two days in jail for failing to register as a sex offender upon release from nine months of incarceration in August 2013. That was followed by eight hours community service for failing to appear for a mandatory drug test, and then for using cocaine.
She said that drug court would have a problem accepting a defendant with an underlying Class B felony sex-assault conviction. The drug use and lying about it made another term of probation difficult because of the potential to commit new crimes.
“That is a recipe for disaster,” Watanabe said. “The court is not taking a chance on that.”
Court-appointed defense attorney Warren Perry pointed out that Taboniar’s pre-sentence diagnostic report did not show a drug problem. He asked the court to consider placing the defendant in drug court for an opportunity to address his substance abuse problem with treatment.
County Second Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Vogt said the state had to recommend the open prison term. She said the defendant lied about using and committed each violation shortly after being released from jail.
Vogt said that the lack of mentioning any drug abuse on the pre-sentence diagnostic either meant that the defendant lied about not using, or started using after he was sentenced. In either instance, it is problematic for the state, she said.
