Jailed police officer released on bond

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

After spending five nights in a federal detention center, a Honolulu police officer accused of illegally distributing a drug containing a human growth hormone was released yesterday after posting a $50,000 signature bond.

Eddie Belluomini, 32, was arrested Friday and charged Tuesday with selling the drug Serostim on at least five occasions between November and May.

The charges against Belluomini allege that at least some of the sales took place while he was wearing his Honolulu Police Department uniform and driving his police-subsidized privately owned vehicle.

Serostim can be used legally, with a doctor's prescription, to treat "wasting conditions" in people with AIDS and to treat dwarfism in infants. It is also sought by some bodybuilders who use the drug illegally to develop muscle mass.

Federal deputy public defender Alexander Silvert, who is representing Belluomini, said his client was "very relieved" to have been released from custody. He said Belluomini was separated from other prisoners at the Federal Detention Center near the airport.

"There is always the danger of possible retaliation" when police officers are held with other detainees, Silvert said.

He said Belluomini has been suspended by the police department, will not be paid after Friday and may try to get a job working with the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the union that represents police officers across the state, while his case is pending.

In addition to the signature bond, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang ordered Belluomini to stay off the streets from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly, not to touch the money in his police pension account, and not to touch illicit drugs or have any contact with people who do. He also was ordered to surrender any firearms and to submit to electronic monitoring.

Belluomini's next scheduled court appearance is June 10 for a preliminary hearing, if he is not indicted by a federal grand jury before then.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.