A man awaiting trial on a federal charge for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon was sentenced Dec. 7 to 84 months in prison for assaulting two federal officers at the federal detention center in Honolulu March 23, 2020.

David Akui-Cabanilla III, 37, is to serve the 84-month sentence consecutively to a 34-month sentence he received March 8 for the firearm conviction, a news release reported. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi sentenced Akui-Cabanilla in both cases.

“While we have recently prosecuted a few correctional officers for violating the civil rights of an inmate, other correctional officers are lawfully protecting our community from incarcerated inmates,” U.S. Attorney Clare Connors said in the release. “This was nothing short of a vicious, premeditated attack on several of those correctional officers, and such conduct warrants the additional imprisonment imposed.”

Akui-Cabanilla prepared for the attacks by making two weapons. A long tube sock tied to the loop of a locked metal padlock was the first weapon. The second one was a knife-like weapon made from a razor blade with a piece of bedsheet tied around one end to act as a handle, the release said.

Akui-Cabanilla used the locked metal padlock to beat one correctional officer unconscious, according to the release. He stole the officer’s keys and pepper spray. He sprayed correctional officers in the face with pepper spray when confronted. He punched a correctional office in the head, knocking him down.

“Multiple officers suffered injuries requiring medical attention and ongoing physical therapy treatment,” the release said. “As part of this sentence, Judge Kobayashi ordered Akui-Cabanilla to pay $24,508.92 in restitution for medical bills paid by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.”