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Judge rejects plea bargain offered to ex-CPA firefighter
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Posted on Apr 13 2012
Camacho says he takes domestic violence seriously
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
Superior Court Associate Judge James N. Camacho has rejected a plea agreement the Office of the Attorney General had signed with a former Commonwealth Ports Authority firefighter who had turned violent and punched his brother while on probation.
Camacho said he takes domestic violence seriously and is not convinced that the “minor sanctions” will have any effect on Giovanni Camacho Sablan’s behavior.
Sablan, 24, a mixed martial arts fighter, is also known as “The Fighter” and “Palaksi or “Palaxi.”
The plea agreement proposes two consecutive six-month terms, all suspended except for time served, 27 days.
In rejecting the plea agreement on Wednesday, Camacho said that, although the proposed disposition includes both anger management and substance abuse classes, Sablan had similar conditions imposed on him in an earlier criminal case and yet finds himself before the court again on another domestic violence case.
In this case, Camacho said, Sablan was on probation when he was charged. The facts giving rise to the present case constitute a violation of Sablan’s probation, Camacho said.
He said the factual basis of the plea agreement is that Sablan started yelling, cursing, kicking and punching things, which culminated in him punching his brother in the chest.
Camacho said the counsel has marshaled several reasons why the court should accept the plea and one of which is that Sablan “shall have a large suspended sentence hanging over his head deterring further crime.”
The judge noted that Sablan previously had a large suspended sentence hanging over his head in a case where he pleaded guilty to assault and battery and disturbing the peace.
In that case, Camacho pointed out, Sablan admitted that he followed a woman who lived with him and drove recklessly in order to get her to pull over. Once the victim pulled over her car, Sablan dragged her back to her car repeatedly while she tried to escape.
Thus, Camacho said, the deterrent value of a “large suspended sentencing hanging over his head,” may well be lost on Sablan.
Assistant attorney general Darren Robinson represented the government at the hearing. Assistant public defender Ben Petersburg served as counsel for Sablan.
