Neighbor Island briefs
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BIG ISLAND
Examiner guilty in license fraud
HILO, Hawai'i — A former driver's license examiner accused of selling fraudulent licenses to illegal immigrants has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court.
Following a tip that state driver's licenses were being sold under the table at the Kailua bureau, Hawai'i County Police Department detectives conducted an audit of driver's license records and found 87 questionable transactions by examiner Clayton C. Perreira, said Police Chief Jimmy Correa.
A joint investigation by police and the FBI determined that 17 of those transactions involved illegal immigrants who paid $500 to $800 for a driver's license — a violation of federal law. The case was turned over to the U.S. attorney's office for prosecution.
Perreira, who as a driver's license examiner was a civilian employee of the Big Island police department, was placed on leave Dec. 8, 2000, and resigned Jan. 25.
Last Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in federal court to using a county computer to produce the fraudulent driver's licenses. Perreira will be sentenced May 21.
Correa said new controls have been put in place to prevent future abuses in the issuance of driver's licenses.
Group challenges council mapping
HILO, Hawai'i — The voter reapportionment plan for the Big Island is facing another legal challenge after a West Hawai'i group filed a request Monday with the Hawai'i Supreme Court seeking to invalidate the new map for council districts.
Sandra Scarr, vice president of Citizens for Equitable and Responsible Government, said the group is asking that a master be appointed to redistrict the island more fairly and to exclude nonresident students at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
Scarr, a retired University of Virginia psychologist, said Hilo is entitled to three of the nine council seats but has managed to claim four by the way the Hawai'i County Reapportionment Council divided the island. "They chopped it up mindlessly," she said.
A week ago, David Holzman of Kona filed a separate suit to set aside the reapportionment plan based on what he claims are socio-economic inequities.
