A 22-year-old state prison inmate who shot a Punchbowl-area man in the chest at point-blank range five years ago now faces a sentence of life with the possibility of parole instead of life without parole.

But following a hearing in Circuit Court yesterday, City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said he is confident he can convince the Hawai'i Paroling Authority to keep Miti Maugaotega behind bars "for a long, long time."

In a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, Circuit Judge Patrick Border granted Carlisle's request to withdraw a motion for an extended prison term that Border had granted in the case back when Maugaotega was sentenced in May 2004. That extended sentence was life without parole.

Maugaotega had been found guilty of attempted second-degree murder for shooting Eric Kawamoto in the chest with a .45-caliber hand gun after he walked in on Maugaotega as he was burglarizing Kawamoto's home.

Maugaotega later pleaded no contest to 10 other felony charges stemming from four other cases that included a home-invasion robbery and the sexual assault of a 55-year-old woman.

When he sentenced Maugaotega in 2004, Border also granted a prosecution request for consecutive life terms with parole for each of the 10 other felony convictions, including burglary, robbery and sexual assault. All of the incidents occurred within two weeks in June 2003.

But in October, ruling on an appeal in the Maugaotega case, the Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled that a jury, and not a judge, should have decided whether Maugaotega was to receive an extended prison sentence

The Supreme Court sent the case back to Judge Border for re-sentencing.

After yesterday's hearing, Carlisle said one of the options would have been to empanel a new jury.

But that would have created delays and uncertainties, Carlisle said. Expert witnesses might have been brought in for the defense who would argue that Maugaotega was only 17 when the shooting and other crimes occurred, and that given his age, rehabilitation while in prison was possible.

Carlisle said he discussed the matter with the shooting victim, his family and other of Maugaotega's victims, "and they are convinced that this is the right course to take."

Kawamoto said after the hearing that he was satisfied with the court's action in his case.

"I was just worried about them (possibly) taking away the consecutive sentencing," Kawamoto said.

His wife, Leslie, said she and her husband are "feeling glad it's over.

"It's time to put it away and move on," Leslie Kawamoto said.

She said the couple will appear before the Hawaii Paroling Authority when it decides how much time Maugaotega must serve before he is eligible for parole. That hearing is expected to be held within six months.

Attorney Walter Rodby, who prevailed on the extended sentencing issue in favor of Maugaotega, said he may now challenge whether the judge was correct in sentencing Maugaotega to consecutive terms.