Darren Galas’s earliest possible release date is May 2, 2026, after the Hawaii Paroling Authority reduced his minimum prison term by six months in 2022. His maximum release date is May 1, 2028. Galas is serving a ten-year sentence for the first-degree assault of his estranged wife, Sandra Mendonca Galas, who was strangled in 2006.1The Garden Island. Darran Galas Sentence Reduced by Paroling Authority
The Conviction Behind the Sentence
Sandra Galas, 27, was found strangled in the garage of her Eleele home on Kauai on January 25, 2006. She had separated from Darren Galas the year before and filed for divorce.2Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Kauai Man Sentenced in Connection to Wife’s Death Galas was arrested the day after her body was found but released within two days for lack of evidence. The case sat cold until Kauai’s prosecutor-directed cold case unit revived it, and a grand jury indicted him for second-degree murder in October 2012.3Hawaii News Now. Kauai Police Make Cold Case Arrest in 2006 Murder
In January 2018, Galas entered a no-contest plea to first-degree assault, a class B felony and a reduction from the murder charge. Judge Kathleen Watanabe accepted the plea and found him guilty.4Hawaii News Now. 12 Years Later, Kauai Man Enters No Contest Plea in Brutal Murder of Wife On May 30, 2018, Watanabe sentenced him to a ten-year open prison term, the maximum allowed for the charge.5KHON2. Kauai Man Sentenced to Prison for Wife’s Death
How the Minimum Term Was Reduced
Under Hawaii’s indeterminate sentencing system, the court sets only the maximum sentence. The Hawaii Paroling Authority then determines the minimum term an inmate must serve before becoming eligible for parole. The HPA initially set Galas’s minimum at eight and a half years.1The Garden Island. Darran Galas Sentence Reduced by Paroling Authority
On March 31, 2022, the HPA granted Galas a six-month reduction, moving his minimum release date to May 2, 2026, and his maximum to May 1, 2028. Hawaii law allows inmates to request reductions, and the authority considers them routinely. In 2022 the HPA weighed 162 reduction requests and granted 31.6Honolulu Civil Beat. Hawaii’s Parole Board Is the Most Powerful in the Country. That May Change
Will He Actually Be Released in May 2026?
Reaching the minimum release date does not guarantee release. Before letting Galas out, the HPA must hold a parole hearing and determine that there is a reasonable probability he will remain law-abiding and that release is compatible with public safety. The authority weighs participation in correctional programming, institutional behavior, and whether the inmate has an approved parole plan. If it is not satisfied, it can deny release and keep him incarcerated up to the maximum term, which in his case runs to May 1, 2028.7Robina Institute, University of Minnesota. Hawaii Parole Profile
So the practical answer: May 2, 2026, is the first date he can walk out, not the date he will. The decision rests with the parole board.
Why Hawaii’s Board Holds This Power
Hawaii’s sentencing system is unusual in giving the Paroling Authority, rather than judges, the power to set minimum prison terms. The HPA is a five-member board that uses internal guidelines, which are advisory and allow wide discretion.6Honolulu Civil Beat. Hawaii’s Parole Board Is the Most Powerful in the Country. That May Change Hawaii also does not award the good-time or earned-time credits that shorten sentences in most other states; the HPA holds sole authority over time served.8Robina Institute, University of Minnesota. Hawaii DOI Report
In 2023, the Hawaii Legislature approved House Concurrent Resolution 23, creating an 18-member task force to study whether that authority should move to the courts. The task force met through 2024 and filed its final report in January 2025. Whether the legislature acts on its recommendations has not been decided.9Hawaii Department of Public Safety. HCR 23 Task Force
The Family’s Response to the Reduction
Sandra’s father, Larry Mendonca, criticized the HPA’s 2022 decision, saying, “They gave him a minimum sentence of eight and a half years, and now they’re cutting that up.” Renaé Hamilton-Cambeilh, executive director of the YWCA of Kauai, called the reduction “a further injustice to Sandy’s family,” adding, “To reward somebody who hasn’t taken accountability for his actions by reducing their sentence is a further injustice.”1The Garden Island. Darran Galas Sentence Reduced by Paroling Authority
At the original 2018 sentencing, Larry Mendonca’s victim impact statement had already named the asymmetry he saw in the ten-year term: “He should consider himself damn lucky to only get 10 years. We got life.”10Oxygen. Sandra Galas Killer Darren Galas Cold Case Then-Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, who negotiated the plea, acknowledged the result was imperfect: “In this case, a measure of justice was served. An imperfect measure, but it was a measure of justice.”11The Garden Island. A Measure of Justice