Updated at 4:18 p.m., Monday, March 5, 2007
Man gets 5-year prison term in copper theft case
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kaupiko, 47, earlier pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and trespassing charges related to the copper theft. He was given a six-month jail term.
Today, he pleaded with Circuit Judge Steven Alm not to be sent to prison.
Alm denied the request, revoked Kauipko's probation for the previous conviction, ordering him to prison for five years.
Kaupiko was arrested in November after he allegedly cut down a utility pole to steal copper wiring.
Also in court today, a woman accused in a police undercover investigation of illegal purchases of stolen copper pleaded not guilty to attempted theft and trial was set for May.
The defendant, Kyung Hee Chon, 44, of Halawa, was arrested last month at Aiea Recycling on Dillingham Boulevard after she allegedly agreed to purchase a 653-pound spool of copper wiring that was clearly marked as property of Hawaiian Electric Co.
