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A 34-year-old woman who skipped out on her sentencing for felony convictions in state court is facing a two-year federal prison term for using someone else’s identification to flee to Las Vegas.
Dajon Francisco pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to aggravated identity theft. She faces a mandatory two-year prison term at sentencing in February.
In exchange for the guilty plea, the federal prosecutor agreed to drop a charge of entering a secure area of the Honolulu Airport to flee prosecution, which carries a maximum 10-year prison term.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amalia Fenton told U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield that Francisco went to the airport in February to board a flight to Las Vegas.
State sheriff deputies took Francisco into custody when she returned to Hawaii in April.
Francisco, also known as Dajon Neal, pleaded guilty in state court in October last year to charges that she burglarized a home near Diamond Head and used a stolen credit card and someone else’s identification to buy a $330 golf club at a Kapiolani Boulevard golf shop. She was free on $100,000 bail when she failed to show up for sentencing in January.
A judge sentenced Francisco in July to 10 years in prison on the state convictions. A week later a grand jury returned an indictment against Francisco on the federal charges.
Francisco told Mansfield that the person whose identification she used to flee to Las Vegas gave her permission to use the identification. Her lawyer, Salina Althof, said the owner of the identification told law enforcement she did not give Francisco permission. Francisco’s prior state convictions include drug possession, theft, auto theft, ID theft and forgery.
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