Shooting suspect freed in ‘ice’ case
A 19-year-old Makiki man who was indicted by an Oahu grand jury yesterday on attempted-murder charges in connection with a July shooting had been free on bond and awaiting sentencing next month in a federal crystal methamphetamine case.
Joshua Gonda is accused of firing six shots from a car at another car, wounding 16-year-old Roger Curioso, the front-seat passenger, at about 1:30 a.m. July 9 on Moanalua Freeway.
Deputy Prosecutor Vickie Kapp told Circuit Judge Derrick Chan that the bullet lodged in Curioso's spine, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.
Chan granted Kapp's request to increase Gonda's bail to $500,000 from $200,000 after the prosecutor said Gonda is awaiting sentencing in the federal case.
Gonda pleaded guilty in April to selling 124 milligrams, 129 milligrams and 132 milligrams of "ice" to an undercover officer as part of a sting operation near Kalihi Uka Elementary School on three dates in June and July 2007. He admitted selling ice each time for $40.
Gonda was free on a $25,000 signature bond in the federal case at the time of the shooting. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Federal Assistant Public Defender Pamela Byrne, Gonda's lawyer in the federal case, said she was shocked about the indictment against her client.
She said he was not using drugs and held a job while awaiting the sentencing.
"He was in every way doing well," she said.
Byrne said Gonda's release pending sentencing is not unusual. Others charged in the sting operation were also allowed to remain free while awaiting sentencing.
She said her client would likely get a one-year mandatory sentence for the federal charges.
Police indicated that the shooting was gang-related. Byrne said that as far as she knows, her client was not a member of a gang.
The first-degree attempted-murder charge of trying to kill more than one person carries a life term without parole, the state's harshest sentence. Gonda was also indicted on related firearm charges.