Internal Affairs investigates parole chairman
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Internal Affairs investigators are examining an unusual effort by the Hawaii Paroling Authority chairman to commute the prison sentence of a man convicted last year of armed robbery who faced a mandatory 10-year prison term.
HPA chairman Alfred Beaver ordered his staff to prepare a commutation request for prison inmate Chad Wilderman, 29, convicted last year of using a semiautomatic handgun in the commission of a robbery, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the request.
The sources asked not be identified because they are forbidden from discussing active investigations.
Beaver's action was unusual because the commutation request bypassed two agencies — the Department of Public Safety and the Attorney General's office — that normally review such paperwork.
And such requests are processed only for convicts sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, and only after the inmate has been in prison at least 20 years.
In Wilderman's case, he had been sentenced to a mandatory 10-year minimum prison term Nov. 2, 2001. At the time of the robbery, Wilderman was on probation for felony auto theft and burglary convictions.
At the sentencing hearing, City Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter cited Wilderman's "extensive criminal history" and called the defendant "a serious threat to the community."
Van Marter argued that "long-term incarceration is necessary for the protection of the public."
Less than a year later, the sources said, Beaver instructed staff to begin work on a request to Gov. Ben Cayetano for a commutation of Wilderman's sentence, which would have lowered the amount of time Wilderman must stay in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Under his current sentence, Wilderman is ineligible for parole consideration until he has served at least 10 years in prison.
Beaver's HPA staff at first balked at preparing the commutation request, then, under continuing pressure from Beaver, prepared the paperwork but included a recommendation that the commutation be denied, the sources said. The staff recommended that Wilderman should seek a sentence reduction from the courts, sources said.
Repeated attempts by The Advertiser to reach Beaver for comment have been unsuccessful.
Cayetano spokesman Cedric Yamanaka said the governor would not comment on the matter so it's unclear whether the governor ever received the request.
Ted Sakai, director of the Department of Public Safety, declined to comment on the matter. He also declined to comment on the ongoing investigation of the Hawaii Paroling Authority by the internal affairs office of the Department of Public Safety.
The investigation centers on about $17,000 spent on a parole officer by two felons, one of them a parolee under the supervision of the parole officer. The money included $10,000 spent on the parole officer's wedding expenses and another $7,000 in cosmetic surgery expenses incurred by the parole officer.
Sources also said Beaver has given special treatment to Wilderman's brother-in-law, convicted felon Jonnaven Monalim.
Monalim, 32, was sentenced to consecutive five-year prison terms years in 1998 for a first-degree assault conviction. He was on probation for burglary and terroristic threatening convictions at the time of the assault.
The Paroling Authority originally said Monalim would have to spend five years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
Monalim was transferred with other Hawai'i inmates to prison on the Mainland in June 1999, according to Halawa Correctional Facility warden Nolan Espinda.
"At Mr. Beaver's request, we brought (Monalim) back Feb. 8, 2000," Espinda said. "The purpose was a potential for early parole consideration."
But there was "no activity" in Monalim's case for months, Espinda said.
William Harrison, Monalim's lawyer, said he requested reductions in Monalim's minimum sentence in May 1999 and March 2000 but they were turned down by the Paroling Authority. Another request in April 2000 was eventually granted, against the recommendations of Halawa officials and state corrections division administrator Edwin Shimoda. The Paroling Authority decided Sept. 28, 2000 to lower Monalim's minimum prison term from five years to three, according to state records, and about a month later, Monalim was granted parole.
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.
Correction: Commutation requests are processed for convicts who are serving life sentences and have been in prison at least 20 years. In the case of Chad Wilderman, he was sentenced to a mandatory 10-year minimum prison term and commutation should not have been available to him. The lead paragraph in a previous version of this story was incorrect, because of an editor’s error.
