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Judge offers former
By Steve Murray
HPD lieutenant chance
to clear record of
false-overtime charges
Star-BulletinA former Honolulu police lieutenant will get a chance to wipe his record clean of a no contest plea on a charge that he turned in false overtime pay cards.
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins yesterday granted a deferred acceptance of the no-contest plea to Timothy Mimaki, a 19-year member of the force. He ordered Mimaki to repay the $858.02 of overtime he received and to provide 150 hours of community service.
The offense will be stricken from his record if he complies with the terms ordered by the judge.
After hearing the sentence, Mimaki smiled and thanked his family.
Mimaki pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree theft and one count of attempted second-degree theft. He could have faced five years of prison for each count.
Between March 8-31, 1999, Mimaki submitted six overtime cards for hours he didn't work. He turned in four more overtime cards between March 12 and April 3 and later tried to rescind them. Mimaki resigned from the police force on April 10.
Mimaki was working as a cart boy lining up golf carts at the Mililani Golf Club last year. Deputy Prosecutor Susan Won said there was overlapping times in the hours he worked at the golf course and the overtime hours he claimed.
Won, who was seeking five years probation along with more community service and a $500 donation to the Criminal Victims Fund, told the court Mimaki took advantage of an opportunity to make money while not being on the job.
"This was an offense out of greed not need," she said. "Mr. Mimaki was paid well as a Honolulu Police Department lieutenant."
Defense attorney Darwin Ching told Perkins that Mimaki spent 19 years in good public service and that he deserved a second chance.
In sentencing Mimaki, Perkins said it seemed unfair not to defer the no-contest plea considering Mimaki's time as a police officer and it being his first offense.
"I don't think that society would demand a conviction in this case," he said.
Mimaki made a statement to the court saying he was deeply sorry for his actions.
"I let down the citizens of the City and County of Honolulu," he said. "I have lost my career and my extended family, the Honolulu Police Department."
After the hearing, Ching said even with the deferral, Mimaki faces difficult times. "It will hard for him to live a normal life again. He has to start his life over again," he said.
