Judge’s son granted
deferred plea

The son of a state judge was granted a deferral of his guilty plea for five years in two felony cases and will not have to serve additional jail time if he stays out of trouble.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins sentenced Brett Del Rosario, 26, last week to one year in jail in both cases with credit for the five months he has already served because he could not post bail.

But Perkins stayed the remaining seven months if Del Rosario abides by conditions imposed by the court. The court will hold periodic hearings to review his compliance.

Prosecutors objected to a deferral and argued for five years' probation with one year in jail, citing the seriousness of the offenses and the number of victims -- about 10 in all, including a neighbor, said Jim Fulton of the Honolulu Prosecutor's Office.

In January, Del Rosario pleaded guilty as charged to 12 counts, including an Aug. 12 incident where he was caught driving a stolen car and possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.

He also pleaded guilty in an Oct. 7 case in which he used fake IDs and forged checks to purchase more than $5,500 of computer equipment and attempted to purchase $650 worth of jewelry.

Del Rosario is the son of Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario.

Deputy Public Defender Ed Harada and prosecutors said Del Rosario was treated no differently than any other defendant facing similar charges and that the sentence he received was not influenced by family ties.

Harada said Perkins found that Del Rosario met the standards for the granting of a deferral.

Harada said that Del Rosario has no prior criminal history, comes from a good family and had a good upbringing but made wrong choices, including getting involved in drugs, specifically crystal methamphetamine.

Perkins likely granted the deferral because he felt Del Rosario wasn't a lost cause and can become a successful, contributing member of society, Harada said.

After spending five months in jail, Del Rosario had time to reflect on where his life was headed, Harada said. While on supervised release, he enrolled in a rehabilitation program, went to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, attended church regularly and began associating with a different crowd -- all encouraging signs for the court to consider in granting a deferral, Harada said.