‘’A tearful plea from a teenager for a wrong choice may have some weight on the court based on lack of judgment, but a tearful plea from an adult and a family man did not sit well with the court, because he made the choice with his understanding that there are consequences for his action’’.
That was the view of the American Samoa High Court when Fa’amamafa Rhode, a 46 year old father of three, begged for a non-custodial sentence when he appeared for sentencing last week.
Samoa News reports that Rhode’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Rob McNeill sought the non-custodial sentence so he could return home to look after his young family.
The defendant’s wife died suddenly while he was in custody since May this year, unable to post a $5,000 bail.
Prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey, supported the non-custodial plea.
In an earlier plea agreement, Rhode agreed to plead guilty to a lesser amended charge punishable by up to 5 years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
He told the court that all these problems his family had faced was because of his careless act.
‘’I don’t blame anybody for what had happened to my family but I blame myself for choices that I made,” he admitted.
Rhode was charged after police found a glass pipe containing methamphetamine in his car during a routine traffic stop on September 25th, 2018.
The court sentenced Rhode to five years in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The jail sentence was suspended and he was placed on five years probation on condition that he serve 20 months at the TCF. He will be credited for the 3 months he served during pretrial detention, and the court will defer the balance of his detention.
Rhode must find a job in 90 days so he can make good on his tearful plea to return home to provide for his family.
‘’We say to you don’t come back to this court for any offenses. If you violate any of these conditions, you will do 5 years at TCF, no more ‘if and but’,” the court warned.
