Head of paroling agency to resign

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i Paroling Authority chairman Al Beaver, who built a reputation as a get-tough, no-nonsense public servant but fell under the cloud of an internal affairs investigation for "a hint of impropriety," will resign today, Beaver's lawyer said yesterday.

Al Beaver's lawyer said Beaver was "set up" by a parole officer. Advertiser library photo

"He was set up" by a parole officer recently fired for accepting gifts worth more than $10,000 from a parolee and the parolee's husband, Cunney said. That officer withheld crucial information in the early discharge case, Cunney said.

Beaver "is a tough guy, he sent all these hard cases away for a long time, and now he's being made the fall guy," Cunney said.

Gov. Linda Lingle told Beaver and Cunney through Attorney General Mark Bennett to resign or face public hearings airing out the charges against him, Cunney said.

"He only had a year left on his term (as chairman), he's got his pension, he decided to resign," Cunney said.

"There's no criminal misconduct here, no corruption," he added.

A former Honolulu police officer and private detective, Beaver has also served in recent years as head football coach at Nanakuli High School, leaving his Paroling Authority office in mid-afternoon to oversee his gridiron work on the Leeward Coast. He said he worked nights and weekends to complete his Paroling Authority duties.

Beaver, 59, developed a get-tough reputation by imposing stricter rules that returned more parole violators to prison. His stance was cited as a factor when the prison population grew by nearly 1,000 inmates during his tenure — the largest percentage increase in any prison system in the nation.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano appointed Beaver chairman of the authority in 1997. Beaver was reappointed and confirmed by the state Senate to serve a second, three-year term in 2001.

The Advertiser reported in mid-November that Beaver was under investigation for ordering his staff to prepare a commutation request for prison inmate Chad Wilderman, 29, convicted in 2001 of armed robbery.

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.

"Wilderman submitted a request for a commutation," Cunney said yesterday, acknowledging that it was "unusual" that the Paroling Authority processed the request.

"They didn't even have a form for it," Cunney said, but he added that Beaver had broken no law.

"There's nothing illegal about what was done — the attorney general's office has said so," Cunney said.

Also under investigation were Beaver's dealings with former parolee Gegham "Gary" Akopian, Cunney acknowledged.

Akopian was arrested on drug trafficking charges in September by federal agents, less than a year after he was paroled from state prison and less than five months before he was given an early discharge from parole by the Hawai'i Paroling Authority.

Information about Akopian — that he was under federal investigation for drug trafficking and that he had been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport carrying $18,000 in cash — was improperly withheld from members of the Paroling Authority by the recently fired parole officer, Cunney said.

Beaver and other members of the authority discharged Akopian from parole in April — seven years early — but would not have done so if that information about him had been included in his file, Cunney said.

Lingle will be required to nominate a replacement for Beaver, to be confirmed by the state Senate. The Paroling Authority includes two other members: Mary Tiwanak and Lani Rae Garcia. Tiwanak has been acting chairwoman during Beaver's absence.