Norbert Palea, 69, the youngest of the 19 surviving Hansen’s disease patients in Kalaupapa, pled guilty last Thursday in federal court to two charges of possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The Drug Enforcement Administration filed charges against Palea back in March, as reported here. He was accused by the DEA of attempting to mail more than half an ounce of crystal methamphetamine to Kalaupapa from Honolulu in February.
Palea pleaded guilty to having four grams of methamphetamine in his check-in luggage aboard a Pacific Wings flight from Honolulu to Molokai last November.
Palea also pleaded guilty to sending 18 grams of methamphetamine to Molokai by air cargo.
Palea faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced in November on two counts of possessing with intent to distribute the drug. He says he transported the drug to distribute to others.
Palea was held in jail for a short time before being released on March 4 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi on $25,000 bond so he could continue to live at Kalaupapa and receive medical treatment on Oahu.
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