Former Honolulu police officer Glenn Miram was sentenced yesterday to 150 days in federal prison — to be served on 50 consecutive weekends — for his role in helping an illegal cockfighting operation avoid police raids.

Miram was the "least culpable" of three police officers convicted in the case, receiving no money for providing tip-offs to planned police raids at a Waialua cockfight arena, according to prosecution and defense lawyers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni recommended to U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway that Miram be sentenced to six to 12 months behind bars.

Defense lawyer William Harrison argued for a sentence of probation.

Nakakuni said another officer convicted in the case, Bryson Apo, persuaded Miram to commit the crime.

Miram was motivated by a "misguided dislike of his supervisor" in HPD's gambling detail, according to Nakakuni.

"What he did was wrong and a crime," the prosecutor said.

"It's quite sad," she continued. "I wish he had handled it in a different way."

Harrison noted that nearly 100 relatives, friends and supporters submitted letters on Miram's behalf to the court.

"His whole life has been turned upside down," Harrison said.

"He lost his career. Every day he has to look people in the face and explain what happened," the lawyer continued.

Miram told the judge, "I'm here to take responsibility for the mistake that I made four long years ago."

"I now know a deep feeling of humiliation and of sorrow," he continued.

Retired HPD Assistant Chief Robert Prasser asked Mollway to sentence Miram to probation.

"I don't feel from my experience that any incarceration would be a value at this time," Prasser said.

But Mollway said that Miram was in a position of trust, and his betrayal of that trust "had a big impact on how justice was administered."

"When a police officer makes a sham out of police work, everybody is affected," Mollway said.

She ordered the defendant to serve 50 consecutive weekends in the Federal Detention Center here, beginning next week.

Miram is to report to the facility at 6 p.m. on Fridays and will be released at 2 p.m. on Sundays. That schedule will allow Miram to hold a job or pursue more education, the judge said.

She also sentenced Miram to three years of probation and fined him $3,000.

Apo also pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

A third officer, Kevin Brunn, went to trial in the case and was convicted with operators of the Waialua cockfighting operation in a jury trial in December.

Following Brunn's conviction, HPD Chief Boisse Correa said the verdict "closes a dark chapter in HPD history."

Brunn will be sentenced by Mollway next week.