A 26-year-old Hilo man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for holding up the Ginger Patch Minit Stop store off Puainako Street in Hilo almost two years ago.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura told Andrew Allen Sandeen “there seems to be just too much to warrant probation in regard to this case.”
Sandeen pleaded guilty on Sept. 23 to second-degree robbery, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.
Shortly after 1 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2014, Sandeen entered the store, said he had a firearm, demanded cash and fled with cash and merchandise.
No firearm was displayed.
A customer followed Sandeen as he ran west to Kilauea Avenue and got into a beat up, older, black Mercedes four-door sedan, which disappeared into traffic heading south on Highway 11.
Deputy Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen told the judge Sandeen has an active warrant for his arrest in Idaho, but that state elected not to extradite him. He added Sandeen blames his use of marijuana, heroin, methamphetamines and opioid pain killers as “the source of all his problems.”
“The defendant is no stranger to crime and thinks that he can play the system,” said Waltjen, who requested the 10-year prison term.
Waltjen said Sandeen fled with $477 and assaulted a police officer when he was apprehended two days later. He said Sandeen’s Facebook page shows photos of drugs and large amounts of cash with comments such as “all mine” and “good day.”
“The state doesn’t have any tolerance for the defendant’s actions, and believes that he’s a robber, a drug dealer — and, more importantly, a dangerous man with little or no regard for consequences,” Waltjen said.
Ivan Van Leer, Sandeen’s court-appointed attorney, requested probation with an 18-month jail term and said his client “has been addicted to major drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine ever since he was approximately 14 years old.”
“It’s a medical issue more than anything else,” Van Leer said. “… It’s my argument that if he’s given a chance at rehabilitation, rather than just warehousing, at age 26 he can have a life. … To warehouse him is counterintuitive if there is an available resource that he can undertake for the purposes of his rehabilitation.”
Sandeen asked the judge for leniency and said he’s “really sorry for what happened that day.”
“I need help. I know with help, I’m capable of change. I strongly desire to change. I don’t want to live a life addicted to drugs any longer,” said Sandeen, who added he earned his high school diploma in jail.
”Please, will you consider rehabilitation before incarceration? I hope you see it fit to give me opportunities at HOPE probation with release to an inpatient program.”
Nakamura told Sandeen prison is “appropriate” and ordered him to repay Minit Stop the $477.
“You threatened use of a gun (and) stole money from a convenience store,” the judge said, and added when Sandeen was arrested, “a police officer was injured.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
