A 57-year-old Pahoa man who stole a jar containing donations to help a child who needs a heart transplant with medical expenses was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail.
According to court records, Hilo Circuit Judge Harry Freitas also ordered Jeffrey William Kleinschmidt to pay $201 to Irie Hawaii Smoke Shop in Pahoa to reimburse them for the money in the jar.
Kleinschmidt pleaded guilty to third-degree theft, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, for stealing the donation jar, which Irie Hawaii manager Jose Miranda said had at least $200 in donations for Madisyn “Maddie” Tamaki, a third-grade student at Pahoa Elementary School.
Kleinschmidt will receive credit for time already served behind bars.
“I think it’s good that we got a solid six months,” said Deputy Prosecutor Winston Albright, noting a judge is unlikely to impose a maximum sentence when a defendant pleads guilty.
He said Kleinschmidt is wanted on an Oahu bench warrant for theft and switchblade possession charges, and could serve the remainder of his sentence there while he answers to those charges in court.
Albright said misdemeanor theft is not subject to enhanced penalties under the state of emergency declared for the Puna District because of the June 27 lava flow.
Surveillance video footage taken Feb. 23 shows a man stealing the jar from the store’s counter, stuffing it into his pants and walking away.
The video, which was posted to YouTube, received more than 18,000 views and outraged many who saw it.
“This guy gives new meaning to the word scum bag,” one poster wrote in reaction.
Albright called the theft “just an atrocious thing.”
“The community has rallied around the child,” he said, and referred to numerous fundraising efforts.
According to an fundraising website set up for her, Tamaki suffers from acute fulminant myocarditis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the heart muscle.
The site, Heart to Heart for Maddie at YouCaring.com, indicates more than $6,100 in donations with a goal of $10,000.
The latest update on the site, posted Feb. 26, states the girl, who is awaiting a heart transplant at Seattle Children’s Hospital, is “still on life support, in critical but stable condition, but has been responding well to doctors.”
A phone message for a relative of Tamaki’s was not returned by press time.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.