Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 30-year-old man accused of violating local drug laws has entered into a plea agreement with the government. Ameperosa Iosia, who has been in custody since his arrest last year appeared in High Court last week for his Change of Plea (COP) hearing.
Iosia was initially charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) with intent to distribute; one count of unlawful possession of meth; one count of unlawful possession of firearms, all felonies; along with one count of unlawful possession of ammunition, a class A misdemeanor.
But under a plea agreement with the government, accepted last week, Iosia pled guilty to the charge of unlawful possession of meth with intent to distribute, a felony, punishable by imprisonment from five to ten years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.
By his guilty plea, Iosia admits that on Nov. 17, 2020 in American Samoa, he unlawful possessed illegal drugs with the intent to distribute. Iosia further admits that on the day of the incident, police searched his body when they suspected that he was in possession of illegal drugs.
During that search, police discovered a medium baggie containing a quantity of meth. He also admits that police also found 4 cut up straws containing meth in his possession.
According to court documents, Iosia’s vehicle was pulled over by police for a traffic violation and a black bag that Iosia was seen taking from a vehicle that was allegedly involved in an illegal chase with police earlier, was searched.
Sentencing for Iosia is set for next month while his co-defendant, Amiatu Lene’s case is still pending in High Court.
AVIATA FAASULU
The driver of a vehicle pulled over by police last month in Vaitogi for blacked out tail lights is now charged with violating local drug laws.
On Nov. 14, 2021 about 11p.m, a vehicle was pulled over by traffic officers on the Vaitogi Public Highway after they observed it had blacked out tail lights. Officers approached the driver, who was later identified as Aviata Faasulu the defendant in this matter, and explained the reason for the vehicle stop.
According to the government, Faasulu did not possess a driver’s license nor did he have any sort of identification on him. He was told the vehicle would be impounded at the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) because he didn’t have a driver’s license.
A pat down search of the defendant resulted in finding a glass pipe with some white residue in it, in Faasulu’s pants pocket.
The white residue later tested positive for methamphetamine (meth).
Faasulu told investigators he found the pipe in the vehicle, and when he was stopped by police he became nervous and scared — so he grabbed it and put it in his pants pocket.
Faasulu made his initial appearance in District Court last month.
Faasulu is charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten years and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $20,000, or both.
Bail is set at $5,000.
Preliminary examination (PX) is scheduled for next week.
FA’ALUA NATO
A man allegedly found with two glass pipes containing methamphetamine inside his vehicle when police pulled him over for a traffic violation last year has finally been arrested and charged.
The government had no explanation in court when asked by the prosecution as why it took so long to charge Faalua Nato in this case.
According to the government’s case, two police officers patrolling the public highways in the Tafuna area on Sept. 25, 2020 observed a vehicle heading west speeding and the driver was not wearing his seatbelt. A traffic stop was made in front of the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) headquarters in Tafuna.
The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Faalua Nato, the defendant in this case. He was found to have neither driver’s license or any other form of photo identification with him. As a result, his vehicle was impounded and he was transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.
Before Nato was transported to the TPS, police conducted a body search and nothing was found. The search then moved to the vehicle where police discovered a black pouch between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. Inside the black pouch were two glass pipes containing a white substance.
The white substance tested positive for methamphetamine.
After being Mirandized, Nato refused to make a statement to police.
Nato was arrested by police last month and made his initial appearance in District Court.
He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth, a felony.
Bail is set at $5,000.
During the initial appearance proceedings, Nato’s defense attorney informed the court that his client wished to exercise his rights to a preliminary examination (PX).
THE PX
It was during the PX last week that the government called their only witness to the stand who was also the lead investigator in this case.
In cross examination, the defense attorney asked about the timeline for the testing for the white substance contained inside the two glass pipes. The government’s witness stated to the court that the test was conducted after Nato was released from the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) where he was held for 48 hours.
Defense asked the witness why the government waited so long to file their case against his client. The witness replied that he didn’t have an answer to that question.
Nato’s case was bound over to High Court where he appeared last Thursday for arraignment. Pretrial conference is scheduled for January 2022
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