Rodrigues ordered to court
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
The trial of former United Public Workers leader Gary Rodrigues came to an end yesterday when a federal judge rejected a bid by federal prosecutors to have Rodrigues and his daughter forfeit approximately $308,000.
But U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered Rodrigues to return to court Monday for a request by prosecutors that he be held without bail while awaiting sentencing because they contend he is a danger to the community.
Federal prosecutors also said they will likely ask that Rodrigues and daughter Robin Rodrigues Sabatini pay the $308,000 in restitution when they are sentenced. Ezra will set the sentencing date later.
The no-bail request is based on outbursts in the courtroom on Nov. 19 by Sabatini, and Rodrigues' other daughter, Shelly Rodrigues-Bonachita, after the guilty verdict was returned. The request also relies on TV news footage that shows Rodrigues hurling a reporter's microphone to the ground as he left the courthouse.
The jury found Rodrigues, 61, guilty of 100 criminal counts and Sabatini, 38, guilty of 95 criminal counts, the bulk of which involve mail fraud and money laundering. Rodrigues alone was also found guilty of embezzling union assets and receiving kickbacks in connection with a union benefit plan.
Following the verdict, the once powerful labor leader was suspended as the state director of the 12,000-member United Public Workers by the parent organization, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees International Union. Rodrigues stepped down from the job on Friday.
The prosecution sought to have Rodrigues and Sabatini forfeit to the federal government the $308,000 based on claims that Rodrigues devised a scheme to pay that amount to his daughter for work as a consultant to union health insurance plans. Sabatini did little or nothing in return for the money, the prosecutors contended.
Ezra dismissed the forfeiture claim after Lance Okamoto, an Internal Revenue Service agent, yesterday said he made an assumption that the checks paid to Sabatini were for work she claims to have done related to the union's health insurance plans. Rodrigues' attorneys argued that prosecutors had failed to show that the money stemmed from the illegal acts they were charged with.
The judge ruled that the prosecution was both unable to provide specific figures on the amounts of the checks and could not make assumptions as to why Sabatini was paid the money.
After turning down the prosecution's forfeiture request, Ezra dismissed the seven women and five men who served as jurors in the case. They left the courthouse without commenting on the case.
Since the jury is no longer involved in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni, who prosecuted the case along with Lynn Panagakos, an assistant U.S. attorney with the Organized Crime and Racketeering section of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., spoke about the jury's verdict for the first time.
"Mr. Rodrigues got a fair trial and the jury made the right decision based on the overwhelming evidence that was presented," Nakakuni said.
She said the guilty verdicts "validate" months if not years of work done by investigators from the Internal Revenue Service, the federal Department of Labor, the FBI and the Honolulu Police Department.
"Obviously I'm very pleased with the verdict. It shows that even the powerful are not above the law," Nakakuni said.
Although Ezra dismissed the forfeiture count, Nakakuni said she will likely argue when Rodrigues and Sabatini are sentenced that they be made to reimburse the United Public Workers Union for the $308,000 paid to Sabatini for consulting work.
Rodrigues and Sabatini and their lawyers, Doron Weinberg and Richard Hoke, left the courthouse without commenting.
When the verdict was returned last week, Weinberg characterized the trial as a gross miscarriage of justice and said he plans to appeal. During yesterday's court session, Weinberg told Ezra he intends to file a request for a new trial and Ezra gave him until Dec. 16 to do so.
Ezra said he reviewed a TV news video clip taken Nov. 19 as Rodrigues and his supporters were leaving the federal courthouse after the jury found Rodrigues guilty on all counts.
Ezra said the video showed "clearly and unequivocally" a microphone being placed in front of Rodrigues and that Rodrigues grabbed the microphone and threw it down.
When questioned last week by federal Judge Sam King, who was filling in for Ezra, Weinberg said the event was exaggerated by the media and that the reporter lost control of the microphone and dropped it.
Yesterday, Weinberg admitted he did not actually see the event.
"I made a statement (to Judge King) based on what a defense team member said to me and did so in good faith," said Weinberg, who said he had yet to see footage of the microphone slamming incident.
Ezra told Weinberg he would provide a copy of the video. He also granted a request by the prosecution for an interim order forbidding Sabatini and Rodrigues from having contact with anyone within the U.S. attorney's office.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
