WAILUKU — A Wailuku man has been ordered to join a co-defendant in paying $20,000 in restitution for stealing a woman’s jewelry from her car earlier this year.
During sentencing Thursday, Sheldon Young, 19, of Kahului was also ordered pay $3,370 for stealing items from his grandfather’s house.
“It looks like you were employed and earning some fairly decent money, but this is a huge sum of money that you’re going to have to pay back,” 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill said.
Young pleaded no contest to first-degree unauthorized entry and second-degree theft. He received one year in jail and four years of probation and was ordered not to have contact with the two victims.
The first theft occurred April 18, when Young entered his grandfather’s residence on Kuualoha Street in Kahului, according to court documents.
The second theft occurred in March, when he and Rogelio R. Cabebe entered a woman’s 2012 Toyota Camry to steal gold bracelets, an opal ring and other jewelry, according to court documents.
Cabebe has pleaded no contest to identical charges and is awaiting sentencing Feb. 9.
Defense attorney Ben Summit asked the court to consider giving Young a chance to keep the conviction off his record and for no jail time. He said Young has had “very little parental guidance” and has had difficulties adjusting to adulthood.
“His mother has been incarcerated during his formative years of his life and his father is currently incarcerated also,” Summit said. “He’s had a fairly small amount of guidance from a steady parental figure.”
Deputy Prosecutor Kenton Werk opposed the deferral request given the fact that Young had not reported to Adult Client Services or complied with court orders. Recent allegations for assaulting a 15-year-old female household member also have landed him in jail.
Werk said that Young did not pay restitution by sentencing, which was expected as part of a plea agreement, and “deserves to suffer the penalties in these cases.”
“Mr. Young has that fork in the road before him today on whether he wants to continue on this path or he wants to make a new path that deviates completely opposite from where his parents have guided him,” he said.
Summit asked that Young be given a chance on probation.
“I would like to get sentenced and do my time and make a new path and start fresh,” Young said, apologizing to the court.
Cahill said that he appreciated Young accepting his sentence, but denied the deferral request. He said that not following court orders, especially in regards to Adult Client Services appointments, is a serious offense.
Cahill said that he thought Young should not serve a substantial amount of jail time and added that he hoped Young can turn things around in his life.
“Life circumstances are difficult, but it is something you know you have to deal with,” he said. “The past isn’t going to change — the future you have the capacity to make better.”
• Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.
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