One Taputimu drug defendant enters guilty plea

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — One of the co-defendants in the Taputimu drug case has entered a guilty plea to the charges against him.

52-year-old Taisia Lemalie, who was a taxi driver when police arrested him in the early morning of Nov. 9, 2017 was initially charged with a single count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, to wit; methamphetamine, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than ten years and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $20,000, or both.

However, under a plea agreement with the government, Lemalie agreed to plead guilty to an amended count one in the information, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years and a fine of nor more than $5,000, or both.

With his guilty pleas, Lemalie admits that on Nov. 9, 2017 while he was working as a taxi driver, he unlawful possessed a glass pipe containing methamphetamine. Lemalie further admits that when police pulled over his vehicle on the day of the incident, they found a glass pipe containing methamphetamine in his possession.

Lemalie, who is still in custody unable to post a surety bond of $5,000 is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 28 for sentencing.

His co-defendant, Cody Wood who is also in custody unable to post his surety bond of $200,000 is scheduled to appear in court next month for his pretrial conference.