He worked for the Treasury as Controller Of Stores/Assistant Secretary of Stores before resigning to run for Parliament.
In 2004 he was appointed Minister of Revenue in a Cabinet reshuffle following the death of Seumanu Aita Ah Wa.
[3] He ran unsuccessfully for deputy leader of the HRPP after the 2011 election,[4] and was not reappointed to Cabinet.
[5] In June 2013 Leota outraged the Samoan Parliament by using offensive language during a debate.
[6] In February 2014 RNZ reported that he was one of three Samoan MPs who had left the ruling HRPP to form a new party after a dispute over abuse of power by Finance Minister Faumuina Tiatia Liuga.