Plea Agreement for woman who stole check

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Tauavea Ma’aele has pled guilty in the High Court and will be sentenced next week.

According to the government’s case, the 37-year-old defendant, took a check belonging to someone else and deposited it in her bank account.

The check was for $731.30.

In a plea agreement, the defendant pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stealing, and the forgery charge was dismissed.

Ma’aele admitted to signing the name of the check owner Katherine Sobrey on October 19 last year.

While Chief Justice Michael Kruse was trying to ascertain if the defendant understood her rights, the defendant gave a yes before Kruse finished a question.

The Chief Justice then spoke to Ma’aele:  “What if I was to ask, do you want to go to jail?  Would you say yes?  Be patient you need to understand your rights. It is very important.”

The court accepted the plea agreement and sent sentencing for the defendant for next Friday.

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