Radio New Zealand article Tuʻi Pelehake (ʻUluvalu) was dubbed the "prince of the people" by ordinary Tongans.
He died prematurely at age 55, along with his wife, 45, and driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, in a car accident on Highway 101 in Menlo Park, California, near San Francisco, where he was meeting with Tongan citizens to discuss reforms.
Attorneys for Delgado appealed the bond amount, which was 10 times larger than court guidelines suggested, and on September 11, 2006, the California Court of Appeal overturned the bail, finding there was no justification given in the original order for such a high amount, and ordered a new hearing September 13.
[4] She was convicted of three counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in June and sentenced on 24 August 2007, to two years in county jail.
In addition, she was ordered to pay restitution of an undetermined amount to the victims' families and serve three years of supervised probation.