Tonga’s Supreme Court has warned that illegal importation of firearms and ammunition is increasing and should attract custodial sentences, as a 79-year-old man was given a fully suspended 12-month prison term for illegally importing 258 rounds of ammunition from the United States.
August William Hoeft pleaded guilty on August 21 to importing 258 rounds of .22 long-range ammunition without an import licence and failing to declare the ammunition, both offences under the Customs and Excise Management Act.
Justice Tupou KC sentenced Hoeft in the Supreme Court at Neiafu on September 16.
The Court heard that two plastic bins belonging to Hoeft arrived in Tongatapu from the United States in May 2025.
An electronic scan detected ammunition inside one of the bins. Customs later found the 258 rounds concealed inside a plastic bottle.
A Police Armoury Report found the ammunition was in good condition for use and that Hoeft did not have a licence to import it. When confronted about failing to declare the ammunition, Hoeft insisted he had an import licence, but the claim later proved to be untrue.
Court warns of increasing offending
Justice Tupou said offences involving the illegal importation of firearms and ammunition now warranted custodial sentences.
“It is without question that this type of criminal activity is recently increasing,” the judge said.
The Court noted that sentencing practice had shifted from fines towards imprisonment because of the need for deterrence.
Justice Tupou described the importation of the 258 rounds without a licence and the decision not to declare them as a serious offence involving an intentional disregard of laws governing prohibited goods.
The judge said sentencing had to take account of punishment, denunciation and deterrence as well as the potential misuse of ammunition and the resulting risk to community and public security.
Hoeft’s defence argued that there was no allegation involving a firearm, violence, drugs, trafficking, sale, commercial activity, bribery, interference with Customs or any wider criminal enterprise.
It also argued that 258 rounds were at the lower end of ammunition-importation offending and proposed a total fine of $1,500 instead of imprisonment.
However, Justice Tupou rejected the suggestion that the absence of those other criminal factors mitigated Hoeft’s offending.
The judge also rejected the argument that 258 rounds was an insignificant quantity, saying the ammunition was legally classified as prohibited goods, had been imported without a licence and declaration, and could pose a security risk if it fell into the wrong hands or was used illegally.
Age and ill health spare jail
The Crown proposed a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment for the illegal importation and six months for failing to declare the ammunition, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Justice Tupou adopted those starting points and deducted six months for Hoeft’s early guilty plea and cooperation with Police, leaving a final sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment.
The defence told the Court Hoeft was 79 and in ill health. He was described as a long-standing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as “respectful, cooperative and dependable”.
Justice Tupou said Hoeft’s advanced age and ill health made actual imprisonment inappropriate.
The 12-month sentence was therefore fully suspended for 18 months.
During that period Hoeft must not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment, must remain on probation and report immediately to the probation office.
He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine within two weeks or serve three months in prison.
The Court warned that breaching the suspension conditions could result in the suspension being cancelled and Hoeft being required to serve the balance of his prison sentence.
All 258 rounds of ammunition were ordered forfeited under the Customs and Excise Management Act.
