LIHUE — A Kapaa man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after losing his probation by breaking into several vehicles in May. Gabriel Kalohe Brown, 22, had completed more than three years of a probation for a 2010
LIHUE — A Kapaa man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after losing his probation by breaking into several vehicles in May.
Gabriel Kalohe Brown, 22, had completed more than three years of a probation for a 2010 sentencing involving unauthorized entry, credit card theft, theft and criminal property damage charges. He lost the probation after picking up similar charges for breaking into cars last spring. At the time of his May arrest, Brown had two more years of probation to go.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe sentenced Brown to five years in prison for the probation revocation. She also sentenced him to a concurrent five-year term stemming from the three recent charges of first-degree unauthorized entry and second-degree theft.
The concurrent sentence means Brown will serve both at the same time, so it remains a five-year term.
“It’s one thing to do poorly on probation but another to go on a crime spree,” Watanabe said.
The state could not recommend any option other than the open prison term, County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar said in court. The defendant has accumulated 39 arrests and one prior felony over his adult life and has had numerous opportunities but has failed probation miserably, he added.
“There is a failure to adjust to probation and nothing seems to work with this defendant,” Kollar said.
State Deputy Public Defender Stephanie Sato took exception to a probation presentencing report that described Brown as a professional criminal. She emphasized his youth, that he performed well on probation for three years before the violation and that alcohol was the significant factor while committing the offenses.
“Alcohol is the tragedy. Take away the alcohol and you take away the crime,” Sato said.
Sato asked the court to sentence Brown to probation, drug court and credit for time served.
Watanabe said Brown missed several probation appointments and was paying nothing toward a $1,200 restitution claim for over a year, with a $1,091.79 balance remaining.
“The probation department made it very clear that they did not want a new term of probation,” Watanabe said.
Brown was arrested June 5, 2013, for a breaking into two vehicles between May 27-30, 2013. Police officers spotted him carrying items and followed him to his residence, where they photographed him carrying several items.
When KPD detectives informed Brown he was going to be arrested, the complaint states he struggled with the officers and broke a recorder being used to record his statement.
One of the detectives was injured while making the arrest. They found USB cigarette lighter adapters, an iPhone and charging cable, designer sunglasses, a backpack of cleaning supplies, business cards and marijuana in Brown’s possession.
The court also sentenced Brown to a concurrent one-year jail term for second-degree assault against a law enforcement officer and 30 days jail for tampering with evidence.
