Ex-HPD official pleads no contest
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A former high-ranking Honolulu police officer pleaded no contest yesterday to second-degree theft for his role in using food purchased for police cellblock prisoners to feed police officers.
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Jeffrey Owens, 52, former police major, said he was "taking responsibility" for actions that occurred while he was in charge of the cellblock, but he said he never personally profited and he fed the officers under his command to help boost their morale and performance.
Jeffrey Owens was indicted by the O'ahu grand jury in August 2001.
Owen's lawyer, Darwin Ching, said after yesterday's court session that he will ask Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto to defer accepting Owen's no-contest plea. If Sakamoto grants the request, and Owens stays out of trouble, the theft charge will be dropped.
The request is scheduled to be heard by Sakamoto on June 24. If the request is turned down, Owens faces up to a five-year prison term.
City Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee said Owens' no-contest plea closes efforts to prosecute those involved in diverting food from cellblock prisoners from July 1995 to September 2000.
He said Owens' plea shows that "no one is above the law."
Owens headed the Central Receiving Division where people are kept while awaiting court, and later headed the department's Traffic Division. He and Assistant Police Chief Rafael Fajardo were indicted by the O'ahu grand jury in August 2001.
Fajardo was the highest-ranking Honolulu Police Department officer ever indicted. He pleaded no contest in February and also asked for a deferral of his plea to enable him to have his record cleared. His hearing is April 29.
Owens yesterday told Sakamoto that he was following in the footsteps of his predecessors in allowing police officers to eat food that was purchased for prisoners.
"The highly publicized purchases of rack of lamb and rib-eye steaks occurred long before I was even assigned to the Central Receiving Division," Owens said.
He said he never tried to hide the fact that he allowed officers under his command to have a limited amount of the food ostensibly bought to feed prisoners.
Owens said that during his tenure, complaints about misconduct by officers were virtually eliminated and that overtime costs were reduced.
"I believed that the elimination of complaints, savings in excessive overtime and improved performance levels more than offset the cost of any food consumed by the officers," he told the judge.
He said allowing police officers to eat food purchased for prisoners "was an error for which I am responsible."
Ching said Sakamoto earlier indicated a willingness to grant the deferral request for Owens, but that he expects Lee to oppose the deferral and to ask that Owens be placed on probation instead.
Lee declined to say what kind of a sentence he will seek for Owens and Fajardo.
Two others were charged in the case.
In October 2001, former Honolulu Police Department Detective John Spondike pleaded no contest to a theft charge for his role. 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 theft.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8030.
