The High Court has granted a man with a long standing drug problem Viliamu Su’a the chance to turn his life around by granting his plea to travel off-island for treatment of his addiction.
Samoa News reports that the defendant told the court he wanted to get the treatment so he could return and care for his elderly parents and be a good husband and father to his wife and children.
Su’a, who has been in custody since September 2018, told the court he turned 52 while in custody and he realized that he had wasted 51 years of it “dealing with many useless things”.
“I spent most of my life in jail because of my drug problem. I have not been useful to my parents in the past 51 years of my life. I’m a married man with young children, and I’m also not useful to my wife and kids,” he told the Court.
He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson and Assistant Attorney General Christy Dunn was prosecuting.
Anderson asked the court to accept the recommendation in the Pre Sentence Report.
The court said it was satisfied with Su’a’s presentation of “the best story of his life”.
According to the court, of the numerous drug defendants who have come before them, this is the first time the court has ever heard “a best story” from someone who has a history of drug convictions.
“We know from your statement that you love your family, but the court wants to emphasize to you that if you never treat your drug problem, you will still be the same person. So, the court has decided to suspend the imposition of your Deposition hearing, under the condition that you will seek medical treatment off island.”
He was told that if he returns to American Samoa and the court sees no changes, it will issue a decision regarding this matter.
“We don’t have anything here to help with your drug addiction problem. The only place you can find assistance is off island.”
