11 life terms
Miti Maugaotega went on
a crime spree that included
rape and attempted murder
Punchbowl resident Eric Kawamoto thrashes in his sleep and wakes up in a sweat because of nightmares of burglars breaking into his home and attacking him.
Kawamoto, 44, has been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome since he was shot by an intruder in his own home almost a year ago.
"Everyday is a constant reminder of what happened at 4:30 on June 26," his wife, Leslie Kawamoto, said in court yesterday. "How can we move on when we're constantly reminded of what he (the burglar) did to us?"
Circuit Judge Patrick Border yesterday handed down a sentence of life in prison without parole to Miti Maugaotega, 18, for attempted murder for breaking into the Kawamotos home on June 26, and shooting him in the chest after robbing him.
Maugaotega also received 10 life terms with parole for felonies in four other burglaries, including one in which he sexually assaulted a 55-year-old woman.
Miti Maugaotega was imprisoned for various crimes, including the home invasion and attempted murder of Punchbowl homeowner Eric Kawamoto, shown here hugging a supporter after the sentencing.
Because he used a semiautomatic firearm in at least three of the cases, Maugaotega must serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison. He will be 68 years old before he can even ask to be paroled.A jury found Maugaotega guilty in March of nine crimes stemming from the Kawamoto burglary. He later pleaded no contest to 12 crimes in the four other burglaries.
Border found that Maugaotega was a multiple offender who has demonstrated a "total disregard for the rights of others and a poor attitude for the law," based on the multiple offenses he committed.
"This court believes if this defendant were released any time soon, his criminal conduct would resume almost immediately," Border said.
Maugaotega's crimes became increasingly violent and "literally run the gamut of the criminal law" -- ranging from attempted homicide to crimes involving profit as a motive, threat to property and sexual gratification, he said.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle called Maugaotega's "tidal wave of crime, criminality and violence" impressive for a 17-year-old.
Over 40 days from May to late June 2003, Maugaotega broke into five homes, terrorizing a total of six people. He invaded the home of a couple and robbed them at gunpoint, raped and pistol-whipped a woman, and shot Kawamoto, Carlisle said.
Miti Maugaotega's sister, Mary, put her head in her hands yesterday as his lengthy sentence was read in court; their mother sat beside her.
Just three days before he shot Kawamoto, Maugaotega broke into a Keeaumoku-area apartment looking for money to buy drugs and so he could stay at the nearby Pagoda Hotel.The female resident he robbed and raped tearfully asked the court yesterday to put Maugaotega away for a long time, calling him a "menace to society."
"My life has changed forever," she said. "Waking up at 12:30 in the morning, in my own bedroom, being accosted by a young man waving a gun at me and then beating me up is not the way to go."
To this day, she said, she cannot sleep through the night. And her 10-year-old grandson, who was not at her apartment that night, still sleeps with a baseball bat, she said.
Maugaotega apologized to Kawamoto and his family "and the rest of the people I did wrong to," but did so with his back toward them. He avoided making eye contact.
Maugaotega's sister, Mary, who attended the sentencing, also said she wanted to apologize on behalf of her family, but declined further comment.
Maugaotega is a "poster child" for defendants who engage in escalating violence while using a firearm and under the influence of drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine, Carlisle said.
While he takes no pleasure in an 18-year-old being sentenced to a life term, "the truth of the matter is that for far too long, it's appeared to juveniles that there's no accountability no matter how violent or vicious they are," Carlisle said.
Deputy Public Defender Walter Rodby argued at trial that Maugaotega didn't intend to shoot Kawamoto, but was forced to so he could escape. He said the sentence was "extremely harsh" in comparison to others convicted of similar crimes, particularly because of his age.
He said he couldn't think of anyone else that young with similar convictions who has been dealt with so harshly.
"The judge did throw in the towel and that's what we were afraid he would do," Rodby said.
The sentence shows that Maugaotega will never behave himself or become rehabilitated, he said.
Rodby blamed Maugaotega's crimes on the teenager's failure to completely heal from being burned and scarred over most of his body from a gasoline fire at age 6.
Kawamoto called himself "unbelievably lucky" to have survived critical internal injuries when a bullet from Maugaotega's stolen Colt .45 semiautomatic tore through his chest, barely missing his heart, and lodged in his back.
"I still can't comprehend how close I came to dying on the day Miti Maugaotega shot me in the chest," he said.
That Maugaotega broke into their home looking for money so he could get a hotel room showed "incredible selfishness" in putting his wants over anyone else's, Kawamoto said.
"What normal person would be willing to take another's life just for a hotel room?" he said.
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Maugaotega will be
Miti Maugaotega, 18, received an extended term of life in prison without parole for second-degree attempted murder for shooting Eric Kawamoto in a burglary. Attempted murder normally carries a term of life with the possibility of parole.
in prison a long timeMaugaotega also received an extended a term of life with parole for each of the following convictions. Each count normally carries a maximum penalty of 20 years:
>> 4 counts of first-degree robberyThe life term without parole, two of the life terms with parole and two 20-year terms, including one for bringing in a shank into the youth correctional facility, are to be served one after the other.
>> 3 counts of firearm violations
>> 2 counts of first-degree sex assault
>> 1 of count first-degree burglary
>> Total: 11 life terms.Because he used a semiautomatic firearm in at least three of the cases, Maugaotega must serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison.
