Ex-HPD official pleads no contest in theft case
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A former Honolulu police assistant chief yesterday pleaded no contest to a felony theft charge of using taxpayer money that was supposed to purchase food for prisoners to buy meals for police officers at the police cellblock.
Advertiser library photo • Aug. 30, 2001
In a surprise move, former Assistant Chief Rafael Fajardo entered the plea to second-degree theft a day before his trial was set to begin before Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto. Jury selection was set for today for Fajardo and former police Maj. Jeffrey Owens, who also is charged with second-degree theft in the case.
Former Assistant Chief Rafael Fajardo pleaded no contest without any plea agreement.
Owens' jury-waived trial has been rescheduled for March 3.
Fajardo pleaded no contest without any plea agreement and is not obligated to testify against Owens. In pleading no contest under state law, defendants acknowledge that they won't challenge the case against them and that normally they would be found guilty.
But Fajardo yesterday asked Sakamoto to defer accepting the no-contest plea, which means Fajardo's record will be cleared if he stays out of trouble for a prescribed amount of time. A hearing on his request is set for April 29.
If the request is denied and Fajardo is found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison.
Fajardo, 61, the highest ranking police officer ever indicted in Honolulu, retired from the police force at the end of 2001.
Fajardo and Owens were indicted by the O'ahu grand jury in 2001 on charges of using taxpayer money earmarked to purchase food for police cellblock detainees to feed themselves and a small group of police officers from 1995 to 2000. Some of the meals included finer cuts of meat, such as leg of lamb and turkey.
Howard Luke, Fajardo's attorney, said his client never authorized that money appropriated for detainees be spent to feed police officers. But Luke said the offenses did occur under Fajardo's watch, which is why Fajardo is not contesting the charge.
"It is very clear that several individuals unbeknownst to him had stolen food items from the central receiving division." Luke said. "When he learned about the thefts he had taken measures to secure the area to prevent further thefts. Nevertheless they did occur on his watch and he accepted full responsibility for being the man in charge of that area at the time that these offenses occurred."
Luke added that the trial for Fajardo and Owens was expected to last 4 1/2 months and would have placed a financial burden on his client. Fajardo, however, is still entitled to his retirement benefits, Luke said.
Owens' attorney Darwin Ching yesterday declined to comment on what impact Fajardo's no-contest plea will have on his client's case.
Fajardo's plea came as a surprise because it was made during a hearing on a motion by Owens to disqualify Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee.
Lee said he will oppose Fajardo's motion to defer the no-contest plea.
"He's a public official who breached his duty and what's involved is taxpayers' money," Lee said. "When you breach your duty at the expense of taxpayers' money, we take it seriously. If anything, it says rank doesn't have its privilege."
Lee declined to say if he will ask for prison time if Fajardo's motion is denied.
Lee said the food scam began in 1995 when Fajardo was the major at the main police station's central receiving desk. Lee said he was prepared to present evidence that Fajardo ordered civilian food service workers to purchase food under the pretense that the items were going to prisoners, when in fact the food didn't.
In October 2001, former Honolulu Police Department Detective John Spondike pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree theft for his role in the alleged scheme. Spondike was a contract food service worker for HPD when he allegedly participated in the scam.
In December 2001, former civilian HPD food service worker Ernest Villanueva pleaded guilty to second-degree theft.
Both men had agreed to testify against Owens and Fajardo at trial if necessary.
Police Chief Lee Donohue and former Police Chief Michael Nakamura have acknowledged eating some of the meals, but both said they did not know the food was purchased with money that was meant to buy meals for detainees.
