KEALAKEKUA — A man charged with trading meth for the use of rental cars was sentenced to 18 months in jail and four years of probation.
KEALAKEKUA — A man charged with trading meth for the use of rental cars was sentenced to 18 months in jail and four years of probation.
Alan Scott Aki, 36, was charged with two counts of unlawful control of a propelled vehicle and one count each of attempted second-degree meth trafficking, attempted second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, second-degree promoting a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Aki pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of unlawful control of a propelled vehicle and second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. The charge of attempted second-degree meth trafficking was previously dismissed. The others were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
“The defendant was engaged in drug dealing, basically,” said deputy prosecuting attorney Chase Murray.
Aki denied that characterization throughout the hearing, saying the drugs were intended for personal use.
He was arrested as part of a traffic stop driving a 2015 Nissan Altima, which was reported stolen.
Police recovered 12 packets containing a total of 9 grams of methamphetamine and two digital scales from the car. That amount of meth is worth about $650.
Aki told Kona Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra that he traded a gram of meth to an employee at one of the car rental businesses for the use of the first vehicle, a 2013 Nissan Maxima. The intention was he would return the vehicle later without the company realizing the loan was made.
That didn’t quite work out, Aki said, and the employee told him that he couldn’t return it to the system, so for Aki to keep it.
Later, he traded another gram of meth for the use of the car in which he was arrested.
“With the evidence before me, you’re a drug dealer,” Ibarra said, citing the individualized packets and scales.
“Almost everyone has scales because they want to be sure the dealer doesn’t rip them off,” Aki countered.
Aki got into meth because he was working at the airport as a lei greeter, defense attorney William Reece Jr. said.
“It seemed he was doing meth to get the energy to do the job,” Reece said, adding Aki was working 100 hours or more a week because of poor staffing.
It fell apart when he was throwing up in the bathroom and missed greeting a flight, which led to the company firing him, Reece said.
Ibarra questioned why the prosecution was suggesting probation at all.
“The prosecutor’s office believes in second chances,” Murray said.
This would be past Aki’s second chance.
He was sentenced to prison in 1990 on a second-degree theft charge, for which he received a deferred acceptance to a guilty plea. That was not successful and he was sentenced to prison in 2001.
He pleaded guilty to third-degree theft in April 2015.
After speaking with the defendant, Ibarra came to a decision.
“The court will reluctantly follow the plea agreement,” Ibarra said.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.