A man with a long history of drug violation has been given a last chance by Chief Justice Michael Kruse.
Samoa News reports that Tolupo Hodges Jr was granted an opportunity to seek medical treatment off island after he made a verbal request to go off island for rehabilitation so that he will be able to care for his elderly parents and also be a good husband and father for his wife and children.
Hodges Jr, who has been in custody since his arrest in May of last year, apologized to the court for his actions, and immediately asked for another chance to change his life.
He told to the court that he turned 50 last year while in custody and while sitting inside his cell every single day, he looked back on his life and realized that he had wasted 49 years of it — dealing with many useless things in life.
He promised the court that he would not violate any drug laws in the future, nor break any other laws of the land.
His attorney, Public Defender Michael White asked the court to consider his client’s plea and allow him the opportunity to travel off island to seek medical treatment for his drug addiction problem.
White pointed out that this was also the recommendation from the Pre Sentence Report.
After reviewing all facts of the case, including the defendant’s mitigation plea and submission from his attorney, Kruse said the court was satisfied with the way Hodges presented “the best story of his life”.
Kruse told the defendant, “We know from your statement that you love your family, but the court wanted to emphasize to you that if you never treat your drug problem, you will still be the same person. So, Judge Mamea and I have decided to suspend the imposition of your Deposition hearing, under the condition that you will seek medical treatment off island”.
The CJ told Hodges that if he returns to American Samoa and the court sees no changes in him, the court would then issue its decision regarding this matter.
“We don’t have anything here to help out with your drug addiction problem. The only place you can find assistance for your problem is to travel off island,” said Kruse.
Assistant Attorney General Christy Dunn prosecuted the case.
