20-year sentence ends ‘heinous’ kidnapping case
A former truck driver for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 17-year-old girl and injecting her with methamphetamine in 2004 was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison, with a mandatory term of six years and eight months as a repeat offender.
Anton Myklebust will be required to register as a sex offender for life and undergo sexual offender treatment because he pleaded guilty to kidnapping with intent to cause injury or subject someone to sexual offenses.
"I expect the parole board to keep him in the 20 years, given the horrendous circumstances of this case," Deputy Prosecutor Thalia Murphy said.
The judge also denied the defense's request for a new trial.
Myklebust pleaded guilty Nov. 29 to second-degree robbery, credit card theft, kidnapping and unlawful methamphetamine trafficking to a minor.
In October 2004, Myklebust was indicted on four counts of first-degree sexual assault and six counts of third-degree sexual assault, in addition to the other charges.
A police affidavit said the girl reported Myklebust repeatedly sexually assaulted her in the back of the Big Brothers delivery truck during stops and injected her with "ice" during an eight-hour ordeal.
Prosecutors, in a plea agreement, had agreed to drop the sexual assault charges and a second kidnapping charge in exchange for his guilty pleas and agreeing to a 20-year sentence.
The victim, who was spared from having to testify at trial, was in agreement with the plea deal.
Myklebust is a repeat offender due to a 1999 federal burglary conviction.
Myklebust was driving a Big Brothers Big Sisters truck Oct. 2, 2004, when he asked the high school senior for directions as she walked to the Nuuanu dental office where she worked. He called her to show him on a map, so she stepped into the truck, then took off with her inside.
He wrestled her knapsack away, punched her in the mouth and tried to sexually assault her, Murphy said. When she wouldn't submit, he began strangling her and injected her twice with methamphetamine, then repeatedly sexually assaulted her, she said.
"It's one of the most heinous cases I've seen in my 19 years of prosecuting sexual assault cases," Murphy said.
Myklebust's lawyer, Nelson Goo, could not be reached for comment.