United States Drug Enforcement Administration

JAN 21 - HONOLULU - Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced defendant Ashon L. Fain-Farias, age 25, on January 13, 2014, to an imprisonment term of six years following a plea (i) one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine; (ii) one count of conspiring to steal government property; and, (iii) one count of aggravated identity theft.

These offenses occurred in December 2012 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and the theft and aggravated identity theft offenses involved two other co-defendants, Joseph Routt, age 37, and Chanice Viloria, age 20, who were sentenced to 14 months and ten days imprisonment, respectively, for their roles in the conspiracy. All three are Oahu residents.

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to information produced to the court, Fain-Farias, Routt, and Viloria attempted to steal over $17,000 of high-value electronic items from the Navy Exchange at Pearl (NEX) by using a military identification card obtained from a military retiree to gain access to the NEX on December 18 and 19, 2012. All three, however, were apprehended on December 19. During the ensuing search of Fain-Farias’ car by Naval Security Forces, a bag containing over 35 grams of methamphetamine, 17 grams of cocaine base, and drug distribution material were recovered from the trunk.

Fain-Farias sentence consisted of terms of four years imprisonment for the drug and theft conspiracy charges, to be served concurrently, and a mandatory two-year term of imprisonment for identity theft which must be served consecutively to the four-year terms, for a total of six years imprisonment.

The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Naval Security Forces. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Singer and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara prosecuted this case.