20-year term given to robber addicted to ice

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a series of armed robberies as a way to pay for his addiction to crystal meth-amphetamine.

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Ted S. Esteban to 10 years on robbery and firearm charges Thursday. Esteban also was sentenced to a consecutive 10-year term on a conspiracy charge.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Esteban must serve all 20 years.

He was arrested in December in connection with six armed robberies between Nov. 20 and Dec. 11. He pleaded guilty in April.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg said Esteban admitted pointing a handgun at employees while robbing the Reynolds Recycling trailer in Waipahu, Baskin-Robbins in Waipahu, Domino's Pizza in 'Ewa Beach, and the Aloha Island Mini-Mart in Waipahu.

He also admitted using a sawed-off shotgun to rob the Waipahu Salvation Army store, and an accomplice did the same during a robbery with him at The Video Warehouse in 'Aiea.

Police recovered a sawed-off shotgun and .22-caliber sawed-off rifle in a bag Esteban was carrying when he was arrested Dec. 12.

Esteban admitted in a plea agreement that he had been addicted to ice for 10 years. Silverberg said the robberies served as a further example of the dangers associated with using the drug.

"He was basically looking to get a couple of hundred dollars in each robbery to fund his drug habit,"

Silverberg said. "I'm no expert (on ice), but for one thing it's very addictive, and ... it emboldens them to do things they otherwise would not do."

Silverberg said Esteban was tried in federal court because each of the businesses robbed was involved in interstate commerce. He said punishment in federal cases is generally harsher than in state court, and does not include parole.