Clarence Handa, longtime criminal, dead at 73
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Longtime Honolulu crime syndicate figure Clarence "Japan" Handa died Nov. 15 in Fort Worth, Texas. Handa, the father of three sons and a daughter, was 73. He died in federal prison.
"He was an excellent father," said Howard Handa, Handa's son. "He was a quiet, humble man."
Clarence Handa helped convict a cop killer in 1988.
Handa is best known for his 1988 testimony against California drug gang member Anthony Williams, who was convicted in the shotgun murder of undercover Honolulu police officer Troy Barboza.
"My father said no outsider should come into town and kill a cop — get HPD out shaking everything up," Howard Handa said.
Barboza had been a witness in a drug distribution case against Williams. The 24-year-old police officer was in his Manoa home when he was shot through the window on Oct. 22, 1987.
In exchange for his testimony against Williams, Handa was given probation on a state court drug conviction. According to federal authorities, Handa, whose criminal career dated to 1962, had faced 46 different criminal charges over the years. He had been convicted of 16, and had been sentenced to one year in jail.
Howard Handa said many of the charges against his father were connected with gambling, which he said was his father's love.
Not long after Williams' conviction in state court, Handa was arrested by federal authorities on drug distribution charges.
According to federal documents, Handa had said he felt confident about continuing to sell cocaine because he did not expect to be "bothered by the cops" while he was cooperating in the case against a cop killer. But one of Handa's associates turned on him, cooperating with federal authorities to avoid a long prison term.
Handa was convicted. In 1990, a visiting federal judge from California sentenced him to 30 years in prison without parole.
Howard Handa said the prison term was tantamount to a death sentence for his father, who was in poor health. It took a while for the older Handa to realize he would never see the outside world again, he said.
"It's not easy to accept that you're going to die in prison," he said.
He said he was disappointed that his father's cooperation against Williams did not carry any weight 14 years later, when his father was dying of lung cancer and wanted to come home.
"They must have really hated my father, huh?" he said.
Handa is survived by his wife, Shirley; sons, Steven, Raymond and Howard; daughter, Karen; sister, Akiko; and six grandchildren.
Visitation is 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at Borthwick Mortuary. The service is at 7 p.m. with cremation to follow. A private inurnment will be at Diamond Head Memorial Park.
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
