Posted on: Sunday, April 17, 2005
Drug use leads man to rob same bank twice
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A man charged with robbing a Waipahu bank last week had finished serving a nearly four-year prison term last fall for robbing the same bank in 2001.
And just in January, he had been brought before a federal judge by his probation officer, who was seeking to have his "supervised release" status revoked — for continuing crystal methamphetamine use — so he could be sent back to prison, court records show.
On Jan. 5, U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor denied the revocation request filed by federal probation officer Malia Ebersole.
Instead, she ordered that Keoni Hylton be released to the custody of the federal Office of the Public Defender and be taken to the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center, where he was to remain until cleared for discharge by his counselors.
On Tuesday, when he was arrested in connection with the robbery of the American Savings Bank Waipahu branch at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Hylton listed the drug rehab center's Sumner Street address as his home address.
Less than eight hours after the robbery, bank surveillance photographs had been broadcast during the evening news by several local TV stations, and within minutes a "citizen informant" had identified Hylton as the suspect in the case, according to an affidavit filed in federal court by Honolulu Police Department Detective Gordon Makishima.
"There is no question that it would be very unlikely for Keoni to be in the situation he has found himself in in the past — and in the present — if weren't for his ice addiction," said Donna Gray, an assistant federal public defender, who represents Hylton. She declined further comment.
Early Tuesday morning, Hylton's sister, Kahana Hilton, who spells her last name differently, had called police to say the person in the bank-surveillance photos appeared to be her brother, said Makishima's affidavit.
At 1:56 a.m. Tuesday, Hylton contacted police himself "and reported that he committed the bank robbery ... and wanted to turn himself in," according to Makishima's affidavit. Police showed up on his doorstep three minutes later.
At about 5 a.m. Tuesday, after being informed of and waiving his constitutional rights, Hylton confessed to the robbery, Makishima said in the affidavit.
Hylton had come full circle.
He had been charged four years ago with robbing the Hawai'i State Federal Credit Union 'Aiea branch on May 15, 2001, and the American Savings & Loan Waipahu branch on May 21, 2001.
Under the terms of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Hylton pleaded guilty only to the American Savings robbery and agreed to make restitution of $4,749 to the bank, as well as $2,106 to the credit union.
Hylton admitted to using most of the proceeds from the two robberies to buy drugs, according to court documents.
On Nov. 26, 2001, Gillmor sentenced Hylton to 46 months behind bars and three years of supervised release, which commenced Oct. 6, 2004.
Hylton got a job as a machinery technician with a tourist-submarine operator, and by Nov. 15 had complied with the court-ordered requirement that he begin setting aside 10 percent of his net take-home pay for restitution to the bank and credit union.
But two weeks later, Hylton's life outside federal prison would start to unravel, and once again crystal methamphetamine was to blame. He submitted a urine sample Dec. 1 that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to federal court documents. The same day, he left a voice message with his probation officer, admitting he smoked ice on Nov. 30, the documents show.
His probation officer confronted him a few days later, but Hylton appeared eager to continue drug treatment and agreed to lengthen counseling sessions from a half-hour to a full hour, say court documents.
But the ice problems continued. Hylton called his probation officer Dec. 8 to report that he had smoked crystal meth earlier that day as the result of what he described as a stressful "living situation." On Dec. 14, parole officer Ebersole notified the court that Hylton was having problems but recommended that no action be taken. Gillmor agreed but asked that Hylton be brought before her if he tested positive again for drugs, say court records.
On Dec. 21, Hylton contacted Ebersole to admit smoking ice the day before, court documents show.
Three days later, Ebersole filed a request with Gillmor to revoke Hylton's supervised release.
At the Jan. 5 hearing, Gillmor rejected the revocation request, ordered that Hylton be enrolled in the Salvation Army drug-rehab program and scheduled a hearing for July 25 to consider whether Hylton's supervised release should be revoked.
In light of the new bank-robbery charge against Hylton, the supervised-release revocation hearing has been moved to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Gillmor's courtroom. Hylton, meanwhile, remains in custody without bail on the new bank-robbery charge.
Reach David Waite at 525-7412 or at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.
