A one-year jail term for a man who stole 300 pounds of mangoes from a Mokule'ia farm last year was hailed by an agriculture industry official as a step toward dealing with the continuing problem of thefts plaguing farms throughout the state.

Alan Takemoto, executive director of the Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation, said the sentence sends a warning that might deter others.

"It sends a message (that) you're going to go to jail if you're caught stealing agricultural products," he said.

Sinfroso Villegas is the first person sentenced under a state law that makes it easier for prosecutors to obtain a felony theft conviction that carries a maximum five-year term. Previously, prosecutors had to prove the theft loss amounted to more than $300. But prosecutors now need only to prove that crops stolen from a commercial farm weighed more than 25 pounds.

Circuit Judge Michael Wilson yesterday placed Villegas on five years probation but ordered him to serve a year in jail.

He also ordered Villegas to pay $3,300 in restitution, not only for the value of the mangoes, but the damage to the trees when he plucked the fruit during the early morning darkness of Aug. 3 last year.

"This sentence recognizes that Hawai'i's agricultural industry must be protected from death by a thousand cuts," the judge said.

Marguerite Emilyon, 41, who stayed in a truck along the roadside while Villegas rode a bicycle into the orchard to steal the fruit, was given a chance to have her felony theft case dropped if she stays out of trouble for five years.

Wilson said Villegas was the primary culprit in the theft.

City Deputy Prosecutor Marvin Rampey argued for a five-year prison term for Villegas and a one-year jail term for Emilyon to address thefts, which have had a huge impact on the farmers. He said Villegas filled three bags with the 301 pounds of mangoes, returned to the truck, put one bag in the vehicle, drove to Hale'iwa to shower, then returned to get the other bags.

Rampey said Villegas, who had a substance-abuse problem, probably wanted sell the mangoes to support his drug habit.

Deputy Public Defender Steven Nichols, who later said he thought the one-year term was too harsh, argued that his client wasn't a "criminal mastermind."

However, his client pleaded guilty to take responsibility and feels remorseful for stealing the mangoes out of "desperation" to help support his three kids. Villegas suffered a head injury in 2002 and hasn't been able to hold a full-time job since then, Nichols said.

Villegas apologized in court. "I'm sorry I did that," he told the judge. "I won't do it again."

He was taken into custody at the end of the hearing.

Neal Bushford, whose Moku-leia Farm Inc. was victimized by the theft, told the judge that the thefts hurt not only him, but the 10 employees and their families.

"I just think at some point, we have to put our foot down and stop this," he said. "It has been going on for a long time."

Takemoto said farmers and ranchers lose about $2.5 million from theft and vandalism each year.

In addition to making it easier to prosecute the thieves on the felony charges, Takemoto said he was pleased the judge's restitution order went beyond the value of the crop and covered actual damages to trees and plants, a point that the farm bureau also supported.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.