Film industry
‘thug, bully’ gets 15
years in prison
'Joe Boy' Tavares was convicted
By Debra Barayuga
of burning competitors' trucks,
robbing tourists and
threatening a person
Star-BulletinHawaii Teamsters member Joseph "Joe Boy" Tavares was a "thug and bully" who could use terror to intimidate people and get his way in trucking for the film industry, says U.S. Attorney Steve Alm.
"Hawaii certainly is a safer place today because he'll be in federal prison for 15 years," Alm said.
Tavares' conviction sends a message to the film industry that anyone who breaks the law will be investigated and prosecuted no matter how long it takes to uncover it, he added.
Prosecutors also confirmed the case has spurred other investigations.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday sentenced Tavares, 43, to 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release and found him jointly liable with co-defendant George Cambra for $268,000 for the destruction of two trucks.
A federal jury in June found Tavares guilty of arson and conspiracy in the burning of movie trucks owned by Auto Mastics Inc. and Mokulua Consultants Inc.
Tavares was also convicted of threatening a Walt Disney location manager filming "George of the Jungle" in 1996 and robbing four tourists of film in January 1997 after they had been assaulted by movie drivers when they wandered onto a production set at Kualoa Ranch.
Tavares' attorney Glynn Cartledge of Nevada declined to comment on the sentence but has indicated they will appeal.
Prosecutors had sought the maximum of 20 years allowed by federal sentencing guidelines.
Mokulua Consultants and Auto Mastics went out of business after the fires, leaving Cambra Movie Production Trucks Inc. and another company as the only sources of local movie equipment and trucks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg said that not only did Tavares deprive movie truck owners Billie Takaki and George Nottingham of their ability to earn a livelihood, but he obstructed justice by lying to the FBI -- deflecting blame for the fires from himself and Cambra.
Tavares blamed other Teamsters for setting the fires, Silverberg said.
He called Tavares' conduct "reprehensible" and described him as "a schoolyard bully who never grew up."
Cartledge had argued Tavares never intended to harm the film industry and that whatever harm he had caused was "speculative."
He said that Cambra, a key prosecution witness, was given a "sweetheart deal" to testify against Tavares. Cambra has pleaded guilty to conspiracy but has not yet been sentenced.
Tavares testified that he was at the movies and later at home when the fires were set.
In issuing her decision, Gillmor said that while Tavares' actions were "egregious" and that the charges he was convicted of and his past criminal history showed a propensity for violence, "there are worse things that can be done."
Gillmor said that after Tavares has served his sentence, he has the potential to work and become a contributing member of society.
