Tongan gang member could serve 40 years for double killing in US

US authority said Nitokalisi Niki Fonua, 33, could serve 40 years for fatally shooting a woman who slept on a couch and a man in a garage in Salt Lake City.

Fonua was sentenced to 20 years for the 2009 fatal shooting of 21-year-old Krystal Flores and another 20 years for shooting dead of the 34-year-old Vilami Latu, in the garage in 2007.

The court was told Fonua shot Flores after he and others entered the wrong home when they sought revenge on rival gang members.

His accomplices were Alexander Bloomfield, 35, and Pailate K. Lomu, 26, and George Blake Angilau, 25.

Bloomfield and Lomu  are scheduled for trials later this year while no court dates are currently set for Angilau.

In June 2007 Fonua shot Latu after he entered the residence, near 1800 West and 630 North, to collect on a debt, the court was told.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Fonua pleaded guilty to both killings on April 6.

“At his sentencing, Fonua expressed his remorse and regret and apologized to the victims’ families and to his own family.

Latu’s mother, Mete Latu, said that she forgives Fonua. Latu’s daughter, Arianna Akauloa, asked for leniency, “because there’s been enough pain and heartache to go around.””

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