A 39-year-old felon who got after he was hurt in a 2021 police pursuit will spend a decade in federal prison for using a ghost gun while marketing methamphetamine in Waianae two months after he got the money.
Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati of Waianae was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Shanlyn A.S. Park to 120 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and illegally possessing ammunition as a convicted felon.
The city can’t get the money back despite his 10-year federal prison sentence for drug and gun crimes. City settlement agreements are generally not contingent upon future conduct.
Perkins-Sinapati pleaded guilty May 14 as part of with the U.S. Department of Justice.
He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm after being charged April 30 with both offenses by federal information.
He was charged May 24, 2024, with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, according to a federal criminal complaint.
In March 2024, the city agreed to pay Perkins-Sinapati $12.5 million for the injuries he suffered as the driver of a car that crashed in September 2021 in Makaha while being pursued by Honolulu police officers.
Those officers allegedly had their lights off and chased Perkins-Sinapati out of a beach park parking lot because of a longstanding rivalry.
After Perkins-Sinapati crashed, the officers drove off only to later respond to the scene and act like nothing happened.
Perkins-Sinapati, 38, suffered a traumatic brain injury and made the case that he would never work again.
Seven officers have been disciplined by the department in connection with the 2021 incident, initially described to the public as a single-car accident.
Three Honolulu police officers have been fired, and they, along with a fourth officer, are to rule on a claim by their attorneys that the law the case hangs on is too vague.
On May 23, 2024, the Hono lulu Police Department got an anonymous tip that Perkins-Sinapati was driving a black 2017 Jaguar F-Pace sport utility vehicle and had been seen firing a gun through the Jaguar’s sunroof.
At the time, Perkins-Sinapati was wanted on an outstanding state warrant with a bail amount of $1 million after he was charged in state court May 7, 2024, with several firearm and ammunition offenses, third-degree promoting of a dangerous drug and second-degree reckless endangering after he was arrested for shooting a gun near Ewa Makai Middle School.
On May 24, 2024, an HPD officer saw the black Jaguar SUV, and a passenger throw a dark bag out of the window.
The officer recovered the bag and allegedly found 102 grams of pure methamphetamine.
In the bag, the officer also found a loaded, homemade 9mm ghost gun pistol, seven rounds of Luger 9mm ammunition and four rounds of.40-caliber Smith and Wesson Hornady ammunition.
HPD pulled over Perkins-Sinapati at the intersection of Farrington Highway and Lualualei Homestead Road.
The officer saw ammunition in the cup holder of the Jaguar and recovered 49 rounds from the SUV. HPD arrested Perkins-Sinapati and his passenger on suspicion of multiple state gun charges.
A fanny pack found in the car had 45 grams of methamphetamine in it and $1, 721 in cash.
At sentencing, Park emphasized the danger of ghost guns, which are untraceable and called Perkins-Sinapati’s pattern of discharging firearms “grandiose and reckless, ” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Perkins-Sinapati’s disposal of a ghost gun on the side of a public road was “extremely dangerous.”
Park also admonished Perkins-Sinapati for being “a contributing factor ” to the gun violence in Waianae, which she described as “wreaking havoc ” on that community, according to federal prosecutors.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara Eucker and Sara D. Ayabe prosecuted the case.