SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo recently sentenced six individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or DUI, and four others for reckless driving.
Yuko Togawa, who pled guilty to reckless driving, was sentenced to six months in prison all suspended except 15 days. Togawa was given 24 hours’ credit for time already served. She will pay a $1,000 fine and her driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days starting March 19.
She will report to the Department of Corrections to serve her jail sentence from April 19 to 26, and from May 17 to 24.
Togawa will be placed on 18 months of probation after serving her sentence and perform 60 hours of community service.
Alfonso L. Taitano, Tony Jose DLC Palacios and Roman Agulto Reyes were also convicted of reckless driving, but will not serve any time in jail.
Each was ordered to pay a fine of $250. Reyes’ and Taitano’s driver’s licenses will be suspended for 30 days. The three defendants will be placed on six months of probation, and shall perform 40 hours of community service.
For DUI, Fernando Taman was sentenced to 12 months in jail, but all suspended except nine days.
Taman was given 24 hours’ credit for time served. He will report to Corrections to serve his sentence on April 8 at 7:30 p.m., and will be released on April 16 at 7:30 a.m.
In addition, Taman will pay a $500 fine, and his driver’s license has been revoked for six months starting March 13.
Taman will also be placed on one-year probation and shall perform 60 hours of community service.
Also convicted of DUI were Thomas Dela Cruz, Eugene Atalig San Nicolas Jr., Geovanly Satoshi, Leonardo Laoyan and Daniel Flo’or.
Dela Cruz will serve three days in jail and pay a $500 fine. His driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days. In addition, he will be placed on one-year probation and shall perform 40 hours of community service.
San Nicolas will serve three days in jail, pay a $500 fine and will be placed on six months’ probation.
Satoshi will serve four days in jail and pay a $500 fine. His driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days, and he will be placed on probation for six months.
Laoyan will serve four days in jail and pay a $500 fine. His driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days. He will be placed on one-year probation and perform 10 hours of community service.
Flo’or will serve three days in jail and pay a $500 fine. His driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days. He will be placed on one-year probation and perform 40 hours of community service.
Mandatory jail time
In a brief interview last week, Judge Govendo said he wants a stronger penalty for people who drive without a license.
“I would like to see a mandatory three-day jail time if an individual got caught driving without a driver’s license. Because we’re still seeing a lot of people getting caught driving without licenses,” he added.
Correction
The DUI case of Vironlanson Serchamidal dates back from 2021 and should not have been included in the earlier version of this news story.
