Press Release

Vehicle Thief Sentenced to 54 Months in Prison

May 11, 2017

(Anchorage, AK) – Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Michael Corey sentenced 37-year-old Umusaga Luafulu to four and a half years in prison. In December 2016, an Anchorage jury convicted Luafulu of vehicle theft in the first degree, failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer in the first degree, and misconduct involving weapons in the third degree. All three offenses are class C felonies.

On the morning of April 12, 2016, a woman reported that her vehicle had been stolen. She also reported there was handgun locked in her trunk. The Anchorage Police Department found the vehicle on April 19, 2016. The vehicle had been painted a different color and had a different license plate. Luafulu was driving the vehicle on DeBarr Road and tried to evade patrol officers as they blocked him in. Luafulu struck an Anchorage Police vehicle before fleeing on foot. Officers detained Luafulu after a foot chase.

Judge Corey found five aggravating factors applied to Luafulu’s sentencing but also found an mitigating factor based on the assistance Luafulu provided to law enforcement to recover other stolen vehicles. Judge Corey commented that Luafulu had been in the criminal justice system for almost two decades and prior rehabilitative efforts had failed. Luafulu did not provide any statements but his defense attorney explained that methamphetamines were the root cause of Luafulu’s contacts with the criminal justice system. Luafulu had 12 prior criminal convictions including four prior felony convictions in the State of Alaska.

CONTACT: District Attorney Clint Campion at (907) 269-6300 or clint.campion@alaska.gov.

More information about the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office is available at http://www.law.alaska.gov/department/criminal/adao.html.

# # #

Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.