Man gets 5 years probation
for theft, ordered to
pay $25,000

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By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

A Honolulu businessman who pleaded guilty to first-degree theft for pocketing funds that were to be used for his father's nursing home services was sentenced Wednesday to five years' probation and ordered to pay $25,437 in restitution.

William L. Hill failed to pay more than $20,000 of his father's pension and Social Security money that should have gone to Hale Nani Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, said state tax investigator Stephen Hironaka.

Circuit Judge Marie Milks also fined Hill, who grossed $100,000 a year, $1,000 for failing to file his annual general excise tax returns from 1995 to 1997.

Hironaka was displeased with the sentence.

"I'm appalled at what the judge did," he said. "It was a slap on the wrist."

The maximum penalty for the theft violation, a Class B felony, is 10 years' imprisonment and/or a $25,000 fine.

For failing to file his tax returns -- a misdemeanor -- Hill could have been sentenced to up to a year in prison and/or $25,000 for each year he failed to file.

Hironaka said the restitution was a mere repayment of the stolen money, and the fine equates to only $333 per year for failing to pay his taxes.

Hironaka said the state began criminally prosecuting tax cheats about six years ago and has had 58 to 59 convictions since then.

But the lenient sentences do little to deter violations, he said.

"We got the short end of the stick," Hironaka said.