A 46-year-old Waimea man facing 10 drug-related charges including six felonies is free pending trial.
Hilo District Judge Kimberly Tsuchiya on Friday granted supervised release to Joel Paaquao Gorai.
Deputy Public Defender Kyla Livingston requested that Gorai be freed on cashless bail status. Deputy Prosecutor Matthew Woodward had requested the judge require Gorai post at least some of his original bail of $143,025 to gain his release from custody.
Gorai is charged with two counts each of second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, attempted second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, first-degree promotion of a harmful drug and fourth-degree promotion of a harmful drug, plus second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to court documents filed by police, officers on Thursday executed three search warrants — on Gorai, his Waimea residence, and his maroon 2019 Infiniti.
The search allegedly turned up 21.7 grams of cocaine, 24.16 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 381.77 grams of marijuana, 37.21 grams of THC diamond concentrate, 11 prepackaged and labeled 1.57-ounce THC gummies, a 2.0 gram THC vape and a 50 gram magic mushroom, or psilocybin micro-dose blend bar. Also seized were a digital scale and $582 in cash.
Documents state that Gorai doesn’t have a medical marijuana license.
According to police, Gorai told officers that all the illegal controlled substances belonged to him and his 39-year-old wife had no knowledge or their existence and didn’t participate in their use.
Gorai said that he purchases larger amounts of drugs so he can ingest them over a longer amount of time as opposed to having to buy drugs more frequently, according to the documents.
Nothing in the documents indicates Gorai admitted to selling drugs, but he “related something to the effect that he will often share or provide illegal controlled substances with his close friends.”
The two counts of first-degree promotion of a harmful drug are Class A felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, upon conviction, while the second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and attempted second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug charges are Class B felonies that carry a maximum 10-year prison term, upon conviction.”
Tsuchiya ordered Gorai, who has no prior felony convictions in Hawaii, to return to court Oct. 20 for a preliminary hearing,
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
