KAILUA-KONA — One woman convicted of a lesser offense in her role of assisting cop killer Justin Waiki is now free to leave jail after her sentence was handed down Friday.
Malia Lajala, Krystle Ferreira and Jorge Pagan-Torres were each charged with two counts of first-degree hindering prosecution and first-degree attempted murder for their roles in assisting Waiki after the July 2018 murder of Hawaii County Police Officer Bronson Kaliloa.
Ferreira was found not guilty of hindering prosecution and guilty of the lesser offense of second-degree reckless endangering, a misdemeanor, after a six-week trial that ended in November.
On Friday, Kona Circuit Court Judge Robert D.S. Kim sentenced Ferreira to one year in jail with all but 178 days suspended and credit for time served, which means she walked out of the courtroom a free woman. She’d spent the nearly six months in jail before bail was lowered to $100,000 and she bonded out.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kauanoe Jackson argued for a one-year prison stint, the maximum punishable sentence for a misdemeanor, “because of the dangerousness of the situation, putting the community at risk.”
Brian De Lima, Ferreira’s court-appointed attorney, asked the court to sentence Ferreira to time served without any further probation.
“The nature of the charges against her were so serious that the defense prior to and during the trial attempted to negotiate a plea bargain because of the potential risk of being convicted for a charge that could have resulted in life in prison without the possibility of parole,” he said. “The State declined all offers to dismiss the attempted murder in the first degree charge in exchange for a plea to the class C felony.”
Ferreira made a statement to the court before her sentence was imposed.
“This whole experience has been very difficult for my family,” she said. “I am grateful and blessed to have their support and that they were able to post bail so I could support my kids as a single parent.”
She went on to say that the whole ordeal was a life lesson for her.
“This has changed me. Life is precious,” she said.
Kim then handed down sentencing.
“I have heard and looked at everything in this six-week trial and I’m not going to lump all of the defendants together. There is no guilt by association. After this whole trial we are faced with reckless endangering … a misdemeanor,” he said.
After sentencing De Lima said that the facts were established at trial and the prosecution wrongfully charged Ferreira with a most serious charge.
“We are grateful the jury and court understood. Ms. Ferreira is relieved that she can move forward with her life,” he said.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sheri Lawson, who tried the case along with Jackson, said this was a case the community needed to hear and the community needed to decide.
“This case was charged by our office but a grand jury heard the evidence and after they heard, they felt there was sufficient evidence to charge,” said Lawson. “Plea negotiations are a necessary part of the judicial process, but some cases just need to go to trial because of the overarching issue of justice. Making a plea agreement just to get a conviction may be the easy thing to do, but it’s not always the right thing to do.”
Lajala was found guilty of first-degree hindering prosecution and the lesser offense of second-degree attempted assault of a law enforcement officer. She is slated to be sentenced in mid-January.
Because of a 2015 conviction of second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, Lajala is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 months.
Pagan-Torres was also found not guilty of hindering prosecution and guilty of the lesser offense of second-degree reckless endangering. He was sentenced to one year incarceration with credit for time served and discharged from the case because he’d been incarcerated since being indicted last August.
However, because Pagan-Torres was on probation for a 2017 drug charge at the time of the 2018 incident, he will have a probation revocation hearing on Dec. 18 in Hilo Circuit Court. He is currently out on bail.
The three, along with a fourth person, Jamie Jason, were in a vehicle with Waiki when police tracked the man down three days after he shot and killed Kaliloa on the side of Highway 11 in Puna on July 17, 2018. Waiki was killed in an exchange of bullets on South Point Road during which an officer suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds.
Jason is being tried separately as her case is tied-up in appeal over statements made while she was hospitalized. She faces two counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, first-degree attempted murder and place to keep pistol or revolver, and two firearms offenses, ownership or possession prohibited fugitive. She remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail at HCCC.
Three others were also charged in connection with the case; Kiel Brende and Mokihana Veincent have since pleaded out and been sentenced while the third, Taumi Carr, awaits trial. Carr is free on $25,000 bail.
Lajala remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail.