A 28-year-old Mountain View man who struck and killed an elderly bicyclist with a pickup in Keaau a little more than a year ago was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A 28-year-old Mountain View man who struck and killed an elderly bicyclist with a pickup in Keaau a little more than a year ago was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura handed down the sentence Monday to Siaiku Lucky Aholelei. Aholelei pleaded no contest July 30 to negligent homicide in the Sept. 27, 2013, death of 66-year-old Cenon Visaya. In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped a manslaughter charge that could have sent Aholelei to prison for 20 years.
Two eyewitnesses said they saw Aholelei’s Mountain View-bound pickup truck cross the median on Volcano Highway (Highway 11) near Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii, then cross two lanes of oncoming traffic and strike Visaya, who was riding his bike on the shoulder in the Hilo direction. One of the witnesses testified in a preliminary hearing last year it appeared Aholelei was “playing tag” with a woman driver of another black pickup truck whom the witness said “proceeded to go on her merry way.”
Visaya was dead at the scene, police said.
Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Hashizaki said the state “believes there really is no option other than prison” for Aholelei.
“This is like a double tragedy, if you will, given the earlier death of Mr. Visaya’s wife” in a traffic collision, Hashizaki told the judge.
Josefina Visaya, 61, and a 54-year-old co-worker, Patrocinia Cadang, were killed Sept. 10, 2012, when a van they were riding in was sideswiped and knocked down a 15-foot embankment by a pickup truck attempting to pass them on Mamalahoa Highway (Highway 19) near Kalopa. That crash also injured the other six people in the van, three of them critically.
The defendant in that case, Alfred Berdon III, has a trial date of Nov. 10 before Nakamura. He’s free on $32,000 bail, charged with two counts each of first-degree negligent homicide, first-degree negligent injury and second-degree negligent injury.
Hashizaki said Aholelei had “an opportunity … to prevent” Cenon Visaya’s death from happening but “chose not to.”
“His actions led to the untimely death of Mr. Visaya in this particular case. … Given his numerous chances in the criminal justice system to turn his life around, he chose not to,” Hashizaki said.
According to court records, Aholelei has 17 criminal convictions, including felony theft, felony assault and auto theft. He was convicted for DUI and reckless driving in 2008 and has three convictions for speeding since 2011.
Aholelei’s attorney, Michael Green, noted the judge has some discretion in sentencing, including 10 years of probation with an 18-month jail sentence.
“I think 18 months straight time is sufficient, but I leave it up to the court … to determine an appropriate sentence,” he said.
Green said he was “sorry Mr. Visaya’s family is not here … so I could at least acknowledge their loss.” He also noted the numerous members of Aholelei’s family in the courtroom gallery, including his newlywed wife.
“The tragedy is not only for the family who loses a loved one,” he said. “… Everyone loses in these cases. I look at the drug screen in this case and the alcohol screen, and, as you have noticed, it was negative. My client was speeding. I don’t doubt the witnesses who say he was weaving in and out of traffic. … We had a man who was on his way to his farm; he loses his life.”
Before sentencing, Aholelei apologized to the absent Visaya family.
“If my father died because of another person, I would not be able to forgive that person,” he said. “I understand (your feelings) toward me. I pray for your forgiveness. September 27, 2013, is a day I will never forget, not because I was arrested, but because I killed an innocent, good man. I think about him every day. I will make sure my children learn from my mistake. I’m sorry.”
Noting the seriousness of the offense and Aholelei’s criminal record, Nakamura said a prison term “is necessary for the punishment of yourself (and) the deterrence of others.”
“This is not the regular kind of accident case. It involves your driving pretty recklessly and it’s something you could have controlled,” the judge said.
Hashizaki said afterward Visaya’s family “provided input to the judge.”
“They expressed the loss of the father, the double tragedy,” he said. “… They just wanted the maximum prison sentence.”
Visaya’s son, Fred, told the Tribune-Herald in July it’s “hard to move on.”
Green, who also represents Berdon in his negligent homicide case, said afterward a prison sentence for Aholelei was “a foregone conclusion.”
“When you have prior felonies and they were recent in time, you don’t get probation,” he said. “The poor guy was riding his bicycle right across from the median.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.