Samoan man detained without bail in federal case

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A federal judge in Honolulu has granted U.S prosecutors’ motion to detain a Samoan man without bail, with a new jury trial date set for the summer this year.

Laneserota Fa’avesi Seufale, whom prosecutors say is a citizen of the Independent State of Samoa, pled not guilty last month to three federal charges, including obtaining more than $117,000 in Social Security Administration benefits using another person’s name. He is also charged with “passport fraud” and “aggravated identify theft”. (See Samoa News edition Dec. 14, 2022 for details.)

Federal prosecutors had filed a motion for the defendant to be detained without bail — arguing among other things, that the defendant is a citizen of a foreign country and the defendant is a flight risk and that he will flee.

Online federal court records show that a hearing was held late last month on the prosecutor’s motion before U.S District Court Judge Wes Reber Porter, who ruled that the court found the defendant could be detained as there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required or for the safety of the community.

Therefore, the defendant, who is represented by federal public defender, Sharron I. Rancourt — who practiced law in American Samoa for many years before re-locating to Honolulu — is detained without bail, according to court documents.

Meanwhile, the defendant appeared earlier this week for another hearing, and court records show that the trial is rescheduled for August this year. The court also set dates of motions to be filed by both sides prior to trial.