LIHUE — A Kapaa man tied to nine criminal cases and charged with a multitude of offenses was sentenced to 11 months in jail and four years of probation. Jacob Henry Matthews, 29, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Randal
LIHUE — A Kapaa man tied to nine criminal cases and charged with a multitude of offenses was sentenced to 11 months in jail and four years of probation.
Jacob Henry Matthews, 29, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano last week to hear the sentencing on six separate cases against him.
For five of the six felony convictions he received a sentence of 11 months in jail with credit for time served and four years of HOPE probation to run concurrently. He is also required to pay more than $16,000 in restitution to the victims.
For the sixth misdemeanor offense, he was sentenced to six months in jail and one year probation, also to run concurrently.
According to various reports and court testimony heard on the day of his sentencing, Matthews went on a year-long, drug-fueled crime spree, committing several residential burglaries and thefts starting in March 2014. Those crimes were committed after Matthews was injured and required surgery, according to reports.
In one such case, Matthews took more than $300 worth of jewelry from one victim out of a wooden jewelry box. Matthews is also convicted in a case where he stole an iPad mini 2 from an AT&T store.
On several of the cases, Matthews worked with an accomplice, 26-year-old Audessa Rego of Kapaa. She was sentenced to one year in jail and four years of probation on six theft 2 convictions to run concurrently.
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney fired off eight of the nine cases against Matthews in the months of March and April 2015. A ninth case was filed in June.
Matthews was originally charged across six cases with multiple counts of theft in the second degree, two counts of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, two counts of promoting a detrimental drug in the third degree and two counts of promoting a harmful drug in the fourth degree.
He pleaded no contest to theft in the second degree on five cases, and theft in the third degree on the sixth case, which is a misdemeanor.
He also pleaded to the lesser charges of two counts of promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree and one count of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar declined to comment.
Theft in the second degree is a class C felony and is punishable by no more than five years in prison and/or a fine of less than $10,000.
On Nov. 18, Matthews will be sentenced on multiple convictions, including burglary and theft, stemming from three additional cases to be heard before Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe.
