Punchbowl gunman enters no-contest pleas

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Waipahu teenager who was found guilty last week of attempted murder for the robbery and shooting of a Punchbowl man in June pleaded no contest yesterday to 13 additional felony counts stemming from four other unrelated incidents.

Miti Maugaotega Jr. will be sentenced May 11 in the Punchbowl case.

• Two counts of first-degree burglary for breaking into Nu'uanu homes on May 23 and 28.
• Two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary and a firearms offense in connection with the June 16 break-in of a Nu'uanu home.
• Two counts of first-degree sex assault and one count each of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and a firearms offense in connection with a June 23 incident at a Makiki-area home.
• Promoting prison contraband for possessing a "shank" on Aug. 17 while confined in the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility. A shank is a potentially lethal, handmade, sharpened object.

Honolulu City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, who prosecuted Maugaotega in connection with the Punchbowl case, said he will ask for enhanced and extended sentences when Maugaotega is sentenced May 11. Carlisle said he will ask that Maugaotega be required to complete the life sentence in connection with the Punchbowl shooting before he begins earning credit for time served for each of the crimes to which Maugaotega pleaded no contest yesterday.

During yesterday's hearing, Carlisle told Circuit Judge Marie Milks that Maugaotega used a .45-caliber handgun in connection with several of the robbery and burglary cases to which he pleaded no contest yesterday.

After the hearing, Carlisle said police believe Maugaotega stole the gun in another burglary, one in which he has not been charged.

Carlisle said Maugaotega used the same Colt .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol to shoot Eric Kawamoto in the chest at nearly point-blank range when Kawamoto walked into his Punchbowl home.

Kawamoto, who was critically wounded, testified against Maugaotega during Maugaotega's recent trial on charges from the Punchbowl break-in.

Maugaotega, who was 17 when Kawamoto was shot and when the other four incidents took place, waived his rights last year to be tried as a juvenile after Carlisle announced he would seek to have him tried as an adult.

Carlisle has said the two-month crime spree Maugaotega went on at the start of last summer is a prime example of how property crimes driven by illicit drug use can escalate into far more serious problems.

Reach David Waite at 525-8030 or dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.