After release from prison for ‘severe obesity,’ Richmond gang member re-offended and received new prison term

OAKLAND — A Richmond man who received an early release from federal prison during the COVID-19 pandemic is headed back there after he committed the same offense again — illegally possessing guns as a felon, court records show.

Lipine Faafiu, 29, was released from prison in 2020 after a judge determined his “severe obesity” made him more susceptible to COVID-19 in prison, according to court records. But while on supervised release last year, Faafiu was arrested for allegedly possessing three guns inside his Richmond apartment, including one that had been stolen out of Fairfield, prosecutors said.

Now, Faafiu is headed back to prison. He was sentenced this week to 51 months behind bars after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. In 2018, after pleading guilty to the same charge, he received a four-year sentence that was cut short, records show.

In addition to the guns, prosecutors say they found “indicia” associated with the Tre-4 gang, and that Faafiu has gotten in trouble for hanging around other gang members in violation of parole before.

Faafiu’s lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo that he is a “low risk” to reoffend, but added that “it seems obvious that the best thing for Mr. Faafiu, and for society at large, would be for him to be permitted to reside outside the Bay Area, where he has gotten into more than his fair share of trouble.”