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The sister of former Deputy Prosecutor Gary Modafferi faces a mandatory five-year prison term for drug trafficking. Modafferi, sister of ex-prosecutor,
pleads guilty to drug chargesJoy Modafferi, 29, on Thursday pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway to two drug-trafficking charges. She will be sentenced on March 13.
Federal laws call for the mandatory term when a defendant is convicted of trafficking more than 5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice."
In a plea agreement, Modafferi pleaded guilty to selling 13.9 grams of ice to an undercover officer for $2,200 on April 19, a charge punishable by a 40-year prison term. She also pleaded guilty to trading 8 grams of cocaine for a Glock handgun and two magazines containing 23 rounds of hollow-point ammunition on July 7. The charge carries penalties of 20 years in prison.
Her arrest resulted from an investigation by Honolulu police and the FBI. They searched Modafferi's Prospect Street apartment in December 1997, three days before a federal grand jury indicted her brother for drug possession, distribution and a firearms violation.
Gary Modafferi, former head of the state's largest narcotics prosecution unit, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing crystal methamphetamine nearly a year later.
Bicoy, Merritt allowed to resign as lawyers
The Hawaii Supreme Court has granted two lawyers the right to resign from the practice of law, including former state Rep. Bernaldo D. Bicoy.The high court granted the requests of Bicoy, effective immediately, and Dianne L.Y. Merritt, effective Jan. 2.
In 1986, Bicoy was sentenced to four months in prison for violating state campaign spending laws by illegally receiving $23,430 in tax dollars for his 1982 campaign for lieutenant governor.
To resign from the bar in lieu of discipline requires attorneys to file an affidavit with the court's Disciplinary Board acknowledging that if formal disciplinary proceedings were prosecuted, he or she could not successfully defend against it. Resignation under these conditions amounts to disbarment.
Under a high court rule, Bicoy's and Merritt's affidavits, which list the allegations against them, remain confidential.
Man accused of killing neighbor is indicted
WAILUKU -- A Maui grand jury has indicted a 44-year-old Kipahulu man in the shooting death of a neighbor and the attempted murders of two other people.Edward Dean was indicted yesterday for second-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, and several counts involving the illegal possession or use of a firearm.
He is being held on $700,000 bail, pending an appearance in Maui Circuit Court .
Police say the charges stem from a dispute that began over money and escalated into Dean fatally shooting 24-year-old Seth Schimberg outside his residence and wounding Schimberg's girlfriend, Nani Hoopai, in the right arm. Police said Schimberg shot at but missed another man.
Shapiro of Star-Bulletin honored by UH-Hilo
HILO -- Honolulu Star-Bulletin Managing Editor David Shapiro was honored last night as one of six "Distinguished Alumni" of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.Shapiro said enrolling in 1968 at the institution -- then a two-year school known as Hilo College -- was a "natural extension of my education." Shapiro attended high school in Hilo.
He answered a notice on a bulletin board that year and began working at a short-lived student newspaper called Issues. That led to Shapiro being hired as the Star-Bulletin's Big Island bureau chief , and the start of his professional journalism career.
Also honored by the UH-Hilo Association of Alumni and Friends:
Chiyono Kinoshita, who began working for the school as a secretary in 1957. She earned two degrees from the school, in 1982 and 1992.
Correction
The Makiki home that is now the Ruth House on Spencer Hill was built in 1923, according to Coralie Vellis, whose father had the home built. A story Nov. 26 said incorrectly that it was built in 1910.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Lone copter continues search for Big Isle hiker
POLOLU VALLEY, Hawaii -- Fire rescue personnel were to conduct a scaled-back search today for a hiker missing for more than a week on the rugged Big Island coast between Pololu and Waipio valleys, they said.John Reese, 22, was last seen Thanksgiving Day when he told friends he planned to hitchhike to Pololu then hike down the coast.
A search was led Wednesday by seven helicopters, including six that had been assigned to marijuana eradication. That was followed Thursday and yesterday by ground searches and a continued search by a county helicopter.
The Fire Department said the helicopter search would resume today but ground crews would not be used.
Car rams signal pole, killing passenger
A man was killed and two others were critically injured in a one-car crash this morning in Ewa Beach.A 1995 Ford Escort, driven by a 22-year-old Ewa Beach man, was headed mauka on Fort Weaver Road when it slammed into a traffic signal pole near Renton Road at 3:35 a.m., police said.
A passenger in the front seat died at St. Francis-West Hospital, police said. He was unidentified as of mid-morning.
The driver and a man sitting in the back of the car remain in critical condition at Queen's Hospital.
Traffic investigators said speed appears to have been a factor in the crash. Alcohol use is unknown.
Fire strips vacant home in Big Island subdivision
OCEAN VIEW, Hawaii -- Fire destroyed a vacant one-story house in the Ocean View subdivision at the southern end of the Big Island yesterday, fire officials said. The cause of the fire in the home, owned by Haswin Patel, is under investigation, they said.
Rains put Kalihi house on disappearing ground
Recent heavy rains have caused the ground to give way under a corner of a house at 2105 Wilson Place along Kalihi Stream.Fire Capt. Melvin Tsutsumi of the Kalihi-Uka station said the house seems secure now but might not stay that way under the next heavy rain.
Partial undermining of the house began after a retaining wall fell away Thursday, allowing some soil from the property to slide also, Tsutsumi said.
The Fire Department was called in to assess the situation at 5:57 p.m. yesterday.
Man allegedly beat wife, put gun to her head
Police arrested a 55-year-old Waipahu man yesterday for allegedly putting a handgun to his wife's head.The husband beat his wife, 46, and threatened her with a handgun at their Kimi Street home on Thursday, police said. He fled before officers arrived.
Police arrested the man when he returned yesterday morning. The couple has been married for 25 years, according to police.
Waikoloa man allegedly displayed porn to youth
KAILUA-KONA -- Police have charged Dennis Jay Brown, 39, of Waikoloa with promoting pornography to minors, sexual assault, promoting prostitution and marijuana possession.Brown was charged Wednesday for allegedly displaying pornography to a boy in one instance and to a girl in another between May and November, police said.
He also allegedly displayed himself in an indecent manner to the girl and offered money for sex. He was released on $5,275 bail.
Kalihi man charged in assaults on girl, 14
Police have charged a 41-year-old Kalihi man in connection with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.Alexander Dela Cruz was charged with four counts of sexual assault, police said. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
The girl reported she was sexually assaulted during a three-year span, police said.
