Former officer pleads no contest to theft charge

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A former Honolulu police officer pleaded no contest yesterday to accusations that he accepted thousands of dollars in pay for work he didn't do in 1999 while he was in charge of a police detail at Honolulu International Airport.

Under the terms of an agreement with the state attorney general's office, Felito Laboy, 57, is to pay back $13,509 by the time he is sentenced Dec. 7 and is free to ask at sentencing for deferred acceptance of his no contest plea, which would allow him to avoid a criminal record if he stays out of trouble for a specified number of years. He also is to perform 300 hours of community service.

In exchange for pleading no contest to the theft charge and agreeing to make restitution, the attorney general's office will not seek jail time when Laboy is sentenced.

Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said discrepancies in Laboy's pay came to light when the state Department of Transportation did an audit as part of an investigation into high overtime pay costs for police services at the airport.

Young said the audit determined that Laboy did not show up for work at all during 15 of the days for which he was paid between Feb. 16 and July 28, 1999, and on 89 other occasions worked less than full shifts and was paid for 354 hours of work even though he was not at the airport.

Young said police officers assigned to the airport had to use security swipe cards to enter restricted areas and that the auditors compared security swipe records to police department payroll records.

Young said at least one other police officer, James Duarte, who was a sergeant at the airport during the time in question, has been charged with theft and is expected to enter a no contest plea Monday.

Michael Green, Laboy's lawyer, described Laboy after the court hearing as "a terrific cop with more than 30 years of outstanding service to the community."

"He accepts responsibility for everything that has happened," Green said.

Young, however, said swipe records show that Laboy frequently did not show up for his supervisory shift at the airport, which was supposed to start at 5:30 a.m., until hours later.

"The bottom line is, if someone is paid for eight hours, the city expects eight hours of work out of them," Young said.