Man sentenced in Chinatown raid
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
Ex-convict and security worker Gabriel Aio was sentenced in federal court yesterday to a six-month jail term and six months home detention for his role in a major Chinatown gambling operation that was raided in May 2000.
Aio, 57, the former head of security for the Matson container yard on Sand Island, pleaded guilty May 2 to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with gambling operations that were being run out of the Wo Fat building on Maunakea Street.
Prosecutors said Aio steered thousands of dollars in bribes to an undercover police officer to make sure the gambling operation was safe.
Aio, who worked for Matson Navigation Co. for nearly 25 years, resigned shortly before pleading guilty to the money-laundering conspiracy charge.
Federal Judge David Ezra said that while Aio was not an owner or stockholder of the gambling operation, he clearly benefitted from its operation by being paid to steer money to a police officer who was supposed to ensure that the illegal gambling rooms would not be raided.
According to statements made when Aio pleaded guilty, bribes were paid to Earl Kaonui, a police officer who was working undercover.
When Aio pleaded guilty, Assistant U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said that if the case against Aio had gone to trial, Kaonui would testify about taped conversations he had with Aio and other principals involved in the gambling operation.
The FBI and Honolulu police made videotapes of a number of people associated with the gambling operation dropping payments into Kaonui's car, according to Nakakuni said.
In addition, Aio's co-defendants Steve Crouch, Huy Loi and Kim Le Richardson, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the case, would testify against Aio at trial, if necessary, Nakakuni said.
Prosecutors contend that the gambling business was owned by Hung Chi Ho of Vietnam. Investigators wiretapped telephone conversations between Ho in Vietnam and his associates in Hawai'i to establish that money was being paid to Aio to protect the operation.
When he pleaded guilty in May, Aio said that he had been asked by two of the main operators of the gambling business to make the payoffs to Kaonui and that he arranged to do so.
Yesterday, Ezra said Aio's reputation as " being a pretty tough guy" was "pretty well deserved," not because he had a history of violence but because he was known as someone who "could take care of himself."
"You were perceived as having the right connections," Ezra said of the gambling room operators' decision to ask Aio to make bribery payments in hopes they would be able to keep from being raided.
"That is another issue this community needs to address," Ezra said. "We don't need anybody in this community that has connections (that might be applied toward circumventing the law)," Ezra said.
He said he was imposing some jail time for Aio in hopes of "sending a message to the community that this type of activity won't be tolerated."
In addition, Ezra ordered that the $82,620 paid to Kaonui as "bribes" be forfeited to the U.S government.
Ezra allowed Aio to remain free on bail before reporting to the Federal Detention Center near the airport on Jan. 3. Reginald Minn, Aio's lawyer, said Aio will serve the six-month jail term at the detention center and will likely not be sent to a Mainland facility.
Aio was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1965 following an armed robbery conviction but was paroled after serving five years. He was indicted on a felony burglary charge in 1974 and later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of criminal property damage.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
