The immigration status of a man who appeared in District Court today on a Public Peace disturbance charge had District Court Judge Fiti Sunia shaking his head.
According to the immigration officer who was in court during the hearing for Frank Ah Mu, the defendant had a CA status, or he was a permanent resident.
However his ID card expired four years ago and had not been renewed.
The defendant explained that his biological mother had passed away and his father was married to an American Samoan.
He gave his stepmother’s name and said she works in the Governor’s Office.
He also said that his father’s wife flew off island prior to his case.
But the immigration officer said the defendant’s mother has a different name than that cited by the defendant.
District Court Fiti Sunia commented that this has happened many times and Immigration expects him to just mop up it up every time .
He said the individual before the court is obviously an illegal alien and according to him a woman who works in the Governor’s Office has left him with an immigration ID that has been expired for four years, but “they are the ones responsible for fixing these IDs.”
Sunia said the bottom line is, Ah Mu has no sponsor. (KHJ News has verified that renewal of a CA ID does not require the presence of the sponsor)
The PPD charge against the defendant stems from a fight in front of the theater in Nu’uuli on June 6 .
Ah Mu told the court he was confronted by “a bunch of guys” and he fought them to protect himself.
He claimed he ran of because they were throwing rocks at him.
Represented by Assistant Public Defender Mathoni McCormick, Ah Mu plead guilty to the Public Peace Disturbance charge.
The defendant was given credit for the 65 days he served in the Tafuna Correctional Facility.
He was spared 120 days incarceration in lieu of 24 months probation.
The court has turned his case over to Immigration and the judge said he expects some action from the government,
The prosecutor was Assistant Attorney General Robert Bigelow.
