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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, April 5, 2010

Man gets year in prison for supplying alcohol to girl who died


By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Michael Clark, shown at his initial appearance in court last year on charges of promoting intoxicating liquor to a person under 21, will serve a year in prison under terms of a plea deal. Makamae Auli'i Ah Mook Sang, 15, of Papakolea, died last July of acute alcohol poisoning after attending a party at Clark’s Hawaii Kai home.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Makamae Ah Mook Sang, in a photo taken at the Merrie Monarch competition in 2008, died last July of acute alcohol poisoning after attending a party at Michael Clark's home in Hawaii Kai.

Advertiser file photo

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A 25-year-old man who supplied drinks to a teenage girl who died of alcohol poisoning last year will serve a year in prison and pay $10,000 in fines under a plea agreement reached in court this morning.

Michael D.D. Clark pleaded no contest to five counts of serving alcohol to minors and guilty to earlier, unrelated charges of terroristic threatening and assault.

Clark entered the pleas in a court hearing before Circuit Judge Richard Pollack.

He and his attorneys left court without comment.

Makamae Auli'i Ah Mook Sang, 15, of Papakolea, died last July of acute alcohol poisoning after attending a party at Clark's Hawaii Kai home.

The Roosevelt High School student had a blood alcohol level of .433, the equivalent of drinking a pint of vodka in an hour, according to authorities.

Family and friends of the victim left court today declining to comment.

"The family, they're being patient about it," said Deputy Prosecutor Rich Stacey.

"It's never going to bring their daughter back. It's a very hard case," he said.

"They're being understanding. It's going to affect them the rest of their lives," said Stacey.

The plea agreement "guaranteed jail and guaranteed convictions on all counts," he said.

"We took this case very seriously," he continued. "Although it's not a murder case, a girl died and that affects all of us."

Clark pleaded no contest to five misdemeanor counts of serving alcohol to minors and will be fined $2,000 per count.

In the earlier case, Clark pleaded guilty to first-degree terroristic threatening, a felony, as well as misdemeanor assault.

Those charges grew from an altercation Clark had with police officers and an employee at the Ala Moana Hotel on July 22, 2007, according to court records.

In the alcohol case, one of Clark's attorneys said earlier that the defendant did not know how old Makamae was or how much liquor she had consumed.

"He has deep remorse about what happened," defense lawyer Brook Hart said last year.

Stacey said the case sends a message "to anybody out there having these kinds of parties that you better think twice."

And parents whose children are "going to a party, you better be careful," Stacey said.