Police Beat
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$1 million bench warrant issued
A $1 million bench warrant was issued for a man who failed to show up for sentencing yesterday on kidnapping and sex abuse charges.
Jovie Adora, who was out on bail and had previously pleaded guilty, was waiting outside Judge Fa'auuga To'oto'o's courtroom in Circuit Court but left prior to the start of his sentencing, said his attorney, Keith Shigetomi.
Jovie Adora
Adora said he went to the doctor's office, Shigetomi said.
"He called to let me know that he was feeling sick and he felt like he was having a heart attack," Shigetomi said.
Shigetomi said he hoped he could convince Adora to turn himself in to authorities.
Eight face indictment on drug charges
Eight people have been charged with dealing drugs within a federal Weed & Seed area, and Honolulu police are seeking to charge four others with state drug offenses in connection with the alleged sales of crystal methamphetamine at Hikina Lane in Kalihi.
Abner M. Neyra, 26; Edgar U. Williams, 22; Faustino Zulueta Jr., 45; Rodney Mamgoba, 28; Wilfredo Bolo, 50, and Nicole Ramos, 21, charged in a federal indictment, were arrested Tuesday. One other indicted suspect — a 23-year-old man — is on the Mainland, said Sgt. Ted Chun of the Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit.
Two others were charged on a federal criminal complaint with selling crystal meth to an undercover officer. Lemuel G. Ababa, 40, and Alvin B. Davis, 20, appeared before federal Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren yesterday along with Mamgoba, Bolo and Ramos.
Multiple state charges of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia are pending against four other people.
Chun said police seized more than three ounces of crystal methamphetamine from a safe and also recovered $4,000 cash in the raid on the two apartments. Police also took computers and electrical equipment from the units for forefeiture.
Sailor's sentencing hearing continues
A sentencing hearing continued yesterday for a Pearl Harbor sailor charged with fatally beating his Singapore-born wife and stabbing his mother-in-law to death at the couple's home last year.
Petty Officer 2nd Class David A. DeArmond, 32, pleaded guilty last month to charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter and abuse of a corpse in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of premeditated murder, which could have resulted in the death penalty.
DeArmond has admitted to the double-killing.
The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The sentencing phase of DeArmond's court martial began Tuesday and is expected to continue through the end of the week. A military jury will determine the sentence.
DeArmond's wife, Zaleha, 31, and her mother, Saniah Binte Abdul Ghani, 66, were found dead June 10 in the couple's Navy home.
At a pretrial hearing last month, DeArmond testified that he hit his wife with a skillet during a confrontation in the pre-dawn hours of June 10.
When asked why, he responded, "To get her away from me."
Man charged in drug case
A Hale'iwa man faces a federal drug charge based on a raid by Honolulu police officers at his Kaunala Street home last November. Alton Genji Pao was charged yesterday with possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.
According to a statement filed in connection with the case by a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, police found a clandestine laboratory consisting of Pyrex dishes, paper plates, metal mesh strainers, glass cups, denatured alcohol, acetone and plastic tubing when they searched Pao's home Nov. 22.
Police also recovered $800 in cash, a five-shot revolver and about 145 grams of crystal methamphetamine, according to the statement.
