Man sentenced for crimes done to support drug habit | News, Sports, Jobs

The Maui News

WAILUKU — A judge said she hoped a man would continue his sobriety, as he was sentenced Wednesday for theft and other crimes he committed to support his opiate addiction.

“You can’t kick 15 years of addiction with two months of sobriety or four months of sobriety,” 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo told Gerat Rommel. “I need you to prove you’re not a one-trick pony. You’ve got to think sobriety.”

Rommel, 30, was credited for more than six months he spent in jail and was placed on four years’ probation. He was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

In two cases, he had pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree theft, theft of a credit card, fraudulent use of a credit card, possession of burglar’s tools, three counts of third-degree theft and two counts of fourth-degree theft.

In one case, Rommel was working at Glass Mango on Front Street in Lahaina when he sold jewelry at discounted prices for cash, which he pocketed, from December 2015 to January 2016, according to police.

After a customer complained, the owner, who had given Rommel a $1,000 bonus, learned about the “under the table” sales, Loo said.

“She was very upset with you,” Loo told Rommel. “She really felt betrayed.”

In another case, Rommel was working as a housekeeper at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas and had a master key that he used to enter a room, where he stole cash and a credit card from a guest’s purse in November, police reported.

Rommel used the credit card to buy gift cards, which he acknowledged he traded for pills.

“This was a trust issue with two employers,” said Deputy Prosecutor Jeffery Temas.

He said Rommel, whose past includes military service, had already paid $500 in restitution for the theft at the hotel.

Supervising Deputy Public Defender William “Pili” McGrath said Rommel was working and participating in drug treatment for his opiate addiction.

“The only good thing about opiates is if you quit them, you can go back to normal, unlike some other drugs,” McGrath said. “Gerat has a better-than-average chance of succeeding.”

Rommel hoped to return to live with his mother in Tennessee, McGrath said.

Rommel said drugs had been a problem for him for about 15 years. He said it was the first time he had gotten help.

“I see that I lost myself and who I was raised to be and who I wanted to be,” he said in court. “I just want to apologize for what I did, and I know I can be a better person.”

Rommel was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to write letters apologizing to the victims in his cases.

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