Two guilty of taking bar bribes
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
Two former Honolulu Liquor Commission inspectors face prison terms of up to five years each after a federal jury found them guilty yesterday of racketeering charges for taking bribes from bar owners and operators to overlook liquor law violations.
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After deliberating for a week, the jury found Harvey Hiranaka guilty of 12 counts and Eduardo Mina guilty of five counts of extortion and accepting bribes.
A federal jury found former liquor inspector Harvey Hiranaka guilty of 12 counts of extortion and accepting bribes.
A defense assertion that the two accepted "gifts" from O'ahu bar owners and operators instead of bribes was "ludicrous on its face," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright said after the verdict.
"This wasn't a culture of gifts, it was a culture of bribe-giving and bribe-taking," he said.
The former inspectors are to be sentenced Feb. 14. U.S. District Judge David Ezra said the delay in sentencing is the result of the lack of a fourth, full-time federal judge for Hawai'i. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the two probably will receive sentences of four to five years, their lawyers said.
In one of the state's largest cases alleging corruption in a government agency, Hiranaka and Mina were among eight inspectors indicted by a federal grand jury two years ago on charges of taking bribes from October 2000 to December 2001. The other six pleaded guilty but have yet to be sentenced.
The bribes paid to an informant who worked with authorities ranged from $40 to $1,080 and totaled more than $11,500.
Seabright said it was never determined how much each of the liquor inspectors indicted in the case made from what he termed "the criminal enterprise."
"The question that needs to be asked now is how did this happen and what is being done to prevent it from happening in the future," Seabright said.
Mina, who fled to the Philippines after learning federal authorities had opened an investigation into allegations of bribe-taking by some liquor inspectors, was detained while awaiting trial. He was returned to custody to await sentencing.
Hiranaka has been free on a signature bond since he was arrested in the case. Ezra allowed him to remain free until sentencing, but increased the amount of the bond from $20,000 to $250,000.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
