LIHUE — A Kapaa man was sentenced to nine months in jail Wednesday after he was caught with a meth pipe shortly after being sentenced on another case. Viliami Hivafiefia Muli, 24, appeared before Fifth Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe to
LIHUE — A Kapaa man was sentenced to nine months in jail Wednesday after he was caught with a meth pipe shortly after being sentenced on another case.
Viliami Hivafiefia Muli, 24, appeared before Fifth Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe to be sentenced on drug charges. He was sentenced to nine months in jail and four years of HOPE probation.
“Nobody disputes that you have a drug problem,” Watanabe said. “What’s very concerning to the court is that right after you’re placed on probation and given jail time, you turn around and commit this crime.”
Five days after Muli was sentenced on Sept. 16, 2015 on a family abuse case and placed on two years of probation, he was arrested on drug charges.
His defense attorney, Melinda Mendes, requested he be sentenced to four years of probation and credit for time served. But the state requested 120 days in jail. Muli had already served 92 days in jail and additional jail time on another case for abuse of family.
On Dec. 2, 2015, Muli pleaded no contest to one of three charges, which were indecent exposure, promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree and prohibited acts related to drug paraphernalia.
The state agreed to drop two charges — indecent exposure and promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree — prior to Muli’s Wednesday sentencing.
Mendes said Muli knew he had a drug problem.
“That’s why he ended up being caught with a meth pipe,” Mendes said. “He had the option of making the state make their case … I told him we could go and make them get the drugs tested. (Muli) fully acknowledged, ‘Why do that? I had the meth pipe. I have a problem.’ This is his attempt to reach out and get help on that issue. This would be the opportunity for him to do that and hopefully change his behavior pattern because it’s all drug related, unfortunately.”
Watanabe then asked Mendes if Muli had been seeking treatment for his drug problem. Muli stated he hadn’t yet sought help and had been waiting to be sentenced.
“Whether it’s all drug related or not, that’s the reason why I asked you if you’ve done any treatment. It looks like you’re just waiting for this,” Watanabe said. “You’re waiting for the sentencing as an opportunity to get treatment.”
The court gave him options during his nine months in jail. If Muli is able to find an in-patient program that will help him with his drug problem, he will be released from jail and serve the remaining time there, Watanabe told him. But if Muli does not get treatment, he will serve his sentence in jail.
