KEALAKEKUA — A 65-year-old Ocean View man has been sentenced to prison for shooting two men earlier this year in Ka’u.
Albert Walter Todd III was sentenced Wednesday by 3rd Circuit Court Judge Robert D. S. Kim to two concurrent five-year prison terms in connection with the March 5 incident that sent two men to the hospital, according to court records.
According to Hawaii Police and prosecutors, Todd shot a 32-year-old man in the leg as he purportedly walked that evening on a private driveway off Aloha Boulevard in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. When a 31-year-old man contacted Todd on Todd’s property, the man, too, suffered a gunshot, but to his foot.
Todd, who’s also known as “Bird,” was arrested the following day, and subsequently charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangering.
Wednesday’s sentencing followed Todd pleading guilty back in September to two counts of second-degree assault as part of a plea deal meted with prosecutors.
The agreement dropped the reckless endangering charge and allowed Todd to plead to a second count of second-degree assault as a lesser-included offense of first-degree assault, according to court records.
The state also agreed to recommend Todd serve the prison sentences concurrently, or at the same time. According to the agreement, he faced anywhere from four years probation and one year in jail to a max five years in prison.
Kim, who was not bound by the agreement, sentenced Todd to the maximum five years behind bars.
But, Kim opted to delay officially entering the judgment until Wednesday, Dec. 12, after Todd requested a few weeks to get his affairs in order before turning himself in to serve the prison term. Todd is currently on supervised release.
Shortly after the sentencing hearing, Deputy Public Defender Ann Datta filed a motion to reduce Todd’s sentence. The filing indicated a request for oral hearing would be made at a later date.