Gunman's friend gets 10 years
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A man involved in an August 2000 shooting incident in Hawai'i Kai in which police officers were fired at over a six-hour period was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday after being convicted last fall of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto also revoked the probation that Gerven Sorino, 27, had been placed on following a prior conviction for first-degree terroristic threatening and ordered him to serve a five-year term in that case
But Sakamoto rejected a request by city Deputy Prosecutor Lucianne Khalaf that Sorino be given an extended minimum term and that the two sentences run consecutively.
Sorino's co-defendant, Peter Takeda, 40, was found guilty Oct. 22 of attempted first-degree murder charges for firing more than 100 rounds of ammunition into an area below his high-rise apartment. He was sentenced in February to life in prison without parole, the harshest penalty allowed under Hawaii law
Sorino, who was acquitted of an attempted first-degree murder charge in the case, was accused at trial of reloading the guns used by Takeda.
Sorino's lawyer, Nelson Goo, told Sakamoto during the sentencing hearing that Sorino tried his best to convince Takeda to stop shooting and near the end of the siege was able to throw the ammunition clip from one of the guns into a waste basket to prevent more shots from being fired.
But Khalaf said that during his taped interview with police detectives, Sorino admitted reloading the guns so that Takeda could shoot at "assassins" the pair believed were lurking in the shrubs below the building.
No one was injured in the standoff, which closed Hawai'i Kai Drive, halted classes at nearby schools and forced neighbors to evacuate. It ended after Takeda surrendered.
Sakamoto said he would honor the verdict the jury arrived at in finding Sorino not guilty of the attempted-murder charge. He found that Sorino's possession of guns involved in the incident was "fleeting" and that consecutive terms were not warranted.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
