Matangi Tonga reported the case under the headline that a dealer who sold cannabis from home was jailed.[1] Sosiua Totau, 25, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for possessing 400.37 grams of cannabis found at his home in Tofoa.[2] Lord Chief Justice Whitten sentenced him on 6 November 2020 at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court after he pleaded guilty to the single count in September.[2] The court suspended the final 12 months of the two-year term for 18 months from his release, on conditions.[2]
On 30 March 2020, police carrying out routine Covid-19 traffic checks stopped Totau and a co-driver in a vehicle at Tofoa and found cannabis in it, which the court dealt with under other charges.[2] Police then received information that drugs were being sold at Totau’s home and searched it, finding a large plastic bag of cannabis leaves and seeds.[2] Totau first said he knew nothing about the cannabis, then told police after further questioning that it belonged to him.[2]
The Crown called the weight of the cannabis an aggravating feature, while the mitigating features were his cooperation with police, an early guilty plea and his status as a first offender.[2] The court heard that Totau is married with a child, works on his family’s plantation with his wife and is not otherwise employed.[2] The Chief Justice said possessing some 400 grams of cannabis carried clear commercial connotations but that it was appropriate to give him a chance at rehabilitation by suspending part of the sentence.[2] The court ordered the cannabis destroyed.[2]
Totau was charged jointly with Likamani Fa’aoso over the 165.37 grams of cannabis found in the vehicle at the checkpoint.[3] Their arraignment was on 30 September, when Fa’aoso pleaded guilty and Totau pleaded not guilty.[3] Lord Chief Justice Whitten sentenced Fa’aoso to 16 months on 30 October 2020 after he admitted possessing the 165.37 grams.[3]