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Customs inspector
accused of padding
paychecks

He calls it 'misunderstanding'

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By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

A top-ranking U.S. Customs inspector on Maui lied on a series of overtime cards about work he didn't actually perform, the U.S. government says.

But the defense for Lyons K. Naone III, a U.S. Customs officer since 1985, calls it a case of "20 misunderstandings," not criminal conduct.

"Every single hour of overtime Mr. Naone claimed on his forms was an hour of overtime he worked as customs inspector or port director," said Maui attorney Anthony Ranken.

Naone was indicted in June on 20 counts of making a false statement to a government agency between October 1997 and January 2000. Each count represented a false overtime ticket Naone submitted.

During opening statements in the trial that is expected to end today, assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong said Naone's false statements came in the form of "padding" or claiming more hours than he actually worked, claiming overtime for work he didn't do at all or for night work.

In one instance, Naone accompanied two inspectors to inspect a ship at Kahului Harbor. They all boarded the vessel at 6:30 a.m., but he was nowhere to be found an hour later. He was reportedly seen at a dedication for a Lahaina courthouse. He later claimed he worked seven hours that day, Tong said.

On another occasion, Naone put in a claim for hours worked inspecting passengers who got sick on a ship and wanted to disembark. But instead, he had notified the ship's agent that he wasn't coming and to forward the paperwork to him, Tong said.

Naone was dedicated to his job and did it the best he knew how, Ranken said, noting that investigation against his client was instigated by a disgruntled employee.

As port director, Naone conducted inspections and supervised three part-time and two on-call inspectors. Their duties were to inspect all foreign arrivals and ensure no illegal passengers or products entered the United States and applicable fees and duties were paid.

Naone scheduled assignments and overtime work for himself and the other inspectors. Their work hours were dictated by the arrivals of foreign ships and private and commercial aircraft.

The hours Naone is accused of claiming are attributed to extra hours he worked when he returned to the just-inspected vessels to ensure that the crew wasn't doing anything illegal after the official inspection.

As port director, he was given discretion to conduct additional inspections as needed. Ranken said the government's case is based on incomplete information and on government witnesses who will testify not to what they saw Naone did, but what they didn't see him doing.

In fact, Naone didn't always claim overtime pay for overtime hours he actually worked, Ranken said.

Guy Daniels, a part-time Customs inspector at the Maui office, testified he and Naone paired up to inspect arriving ships on at least three occasions.

Both arrived and disembarked the ships at the same time after they completed their inspections. But overtime tickets submitted by Naone showed he worked between one and 1 hours more than Daniels.

If convicted, Naone, who recently retired from the U.S. Customs, faces five years imprisonment on each of the 20 counts.