A former San Diego man lashed out at the media Tuesday for hounding him and making his life difficult since his release from custody last month for stealing luggage from Nordstrom.
Multiple Japanese media organizations flooded a state courtroom Tuesday when a state judge sentenced 43-year-old Anthony Simoneau to five years of probation for second-degree theft.
The theft is not the reason for the Japanese media’s interest in Simoneau.
In 2007, the body of Simoneau’s wife Fumiko was found in a shallow grave in a desert near San Diego. However, it was not until earlier this year when authorities identified the body as that of Fumiko Simoneau using DNA from her family in Japan. Anthony Simoneau never reported his wife missing.
Honolulu police arrested Simoneau in May for stealing luggage from Nordstrom. He remained in custody unable to post $11,000 bail until Aug. 2 when he pleaded guilty and Circuit Judge Michael Wilson granted his release under the supervision of the court’s Intake Services Center pending sentencing.
Simoneau said he complied with all the terms and conditions of his release.
His lawyer Lesley Maloian said at some point the ICS made the terms and conditions to which Simoneau needed to comply more stringent.
"They were difficult terms because of the fact that there is that cold case that’s listed in the (pre-sentence investigation report)," she said.
Simoneau blames the media for the change and said the media reports have already tried and convicted him for his wife’s death.
"I’m a broken man right now," Simoneau said, "I’ve just been totally overwhelmed."
He asked Wilson to allow him to travel to San Diego to "take care of matters" there.
Wilson told him one of the standard conditions of probation is that travel outside Hawaii is not permitted.
San Diego officials have not charged Simoneau or anyone else with any crimes in connection with his wife’s death.
Anthony Simoneau said he pleaded guilty to the theft because he didn’t want to waste the court’s time. He said he talked to Nordstrom officials and even offered to pay them the $395 cost of the luggage.
"They got their property back," he said.
Maloian said Simoneau immediately confessed to store officials and then to police.
Simoneau asked Wilson for a deferral of his guilty plea, which would have given him the opportunity to clear the charge from his criminal record.
Wilson told Simoneau he did not impose any prison time because he does not have a criminal record, has a history or employment and adequately abided by the terms of his pretrial release. But he told Simoneau he can not grant him a deferral "because you haven’t been in Hawaii long. You havent’ established much of a track record."
Hawaii News Now video: Man questioned about wife’s murder in San Diego sentenced for shoplifting in Honolulu
