Man sentenced in landlord-tenant dispute

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The owner of a rental unit in the Nu’uuli area who was charged and convicted of assaulting his tenants — a man and his son — was sentenced to 12 months probation last week in District Court.

Faletolu Tufuga was initially charged with second-degree assault, a class D felony. But the charge was dismissed following a preliminary examination (PX) in the beginning of this year, after the government failed to call a witness for the hearing.

Immediately afterwards, the prosecutor informed the court that the government has filed a new criminal complaint against Tufuga, charging him with third-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor.

Tufuga appeared in court last week for a pretrial conference. When his case was called, the prosecutor informed the court that they had reached a plea agreement — Tufuga had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree assault.

With his guilty plea, Tufuga admits that on Dec. 17, 2021 in Malaeimi, he assaulted a man who was renting at his home, by punching him in the face and hitting him with a piece of lumber. The victim’s 17-year-old son during the assault, was allegedly pushed to the wall and choked by the defendant.

The defense attorney requested a probated sentence, saying his client is a first time offender and a suitable candidate for probation.

The government echoed the defense submission, saying there were no life threatening injuries to the victim and his son as a result of the incident.

 In delivering its decision, the court noted that the incident escalated from a rental dispute, and despite the fact that the victim and his son were both injured as a result, it appears from the affidavit that it was the victim's son’s actions that started the whole thing.

According to the court, the victim’s son was angry about the power being turned off by Tufuga; he then began flipping tables inside the house, and making holes in the walls while at the same time yelling profanities at Tufuga, who was speaking to his wife outside of the rental apartment in Malaeimi.

Tufuga was sentenced to 12 months probation, subject to several conditions. He has to pay a $200 fine; $282 restitution; and remain law abiding.