Man pleads guilty to second-degree felony kidnapping

PROVO — Although friends said it was out of character, a man arrested in the grabbing of a woman at gunpoint because of a failed drug deal pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge of kidnapping.

Sifa Pulu, 26, and his uncle, Sione Afu, 43, were both charged in 4th District Court with aggravated kidnapping after they picked up a 24-year-old woman at her house in Provo Aug. 2 and drove her around town for several hours, according to police affidavits filed in court.

Prosecutor Jared Perkins told Judge Gary Stott the woman was held against her will while the men "threatened multiple times to kill her with a shotgun because of a bad drug deal," he said.

The woman finally escaped by jumping out of the moving car and rolling onto the road. Witnesses saw her leap out and helped her contact police.

With Pulu's guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to amend the first-degree felony charge of aggravated kidnapping — with its mandatory prison sentence — to kidnapping, a second-degree felony.

There is also an agreement that if Pulu successfully completes probation, he can petition that his felony charge be reduced to a class A misdemeanor on his record.

"If he's the perfect model citizen while he's on probation, then I won't oppose the (petition)," Perkins said, adding that Pulu doesn't have much of a criminal history.

"He's a nice kid who got wrapped up in drugs," said defense attorney Richard Gale.

Even family friend and former Congressman Chris Cannon vouched for Pulu's nonviolent, but perhaps currently troubled, nature at a previous bail hearing. Cannon promised Stott that Pulu would appear for all court appearances if he were released from jail.

Pulu has come to every hearing. However, a $100,000 cash-only warrant is still outstanding for Afu, who has never appeared in court. Pulu will be sentenced April 23.

The case hit a sticky patch at the preliminary hearing, when the alleged victim was supposed to testify about the case — including her illegal actions of selling drugs to the men at the mall.

Given the constitutional protection against self-incrimination, the indigent woman was appointed an attorney who worked with prosecutors to arrange for "use immunity" during the hearing.

Use immunity means prosecutors would not be able to use any of the woman's testimony to prosecute her for the drug crime, Perkins said.

However, according to court records, the woman was already charged in December with possession or use of a controlled substance.

Once Gale knew the woman would be granted use immunity to testify, he said they were quick to waive the preliminary hearing and look toward an offer. Because the woman never actually testified, she was not granted any immunity, Perkins said.

Gale said they could have argued she was an unreliable witness, because she was selling drugs. However, the state also had witnesses who saw the woman leap from the car and could validate her story.

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com