Kahapea faces Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the second trial of city housing official Michael Kahapea, unless a plea agreement is reached by today.
trial in city bus
yard fraud
The convicted thief must
decide on pleas in
2 unrelated casesBy Debra Barayuga
Star-BulletinKahapea, convicted last August of stealing $5.8 million from the Ewa Villages relocation project, is scheduled to go to trial in a similar scam accusing him of stealing more than $600,000 in relocation money to make way for what are now TheBus facilities on Middle Street.
Following this trial, Kahapea faces separate charges involving theft of more than $600,000 in relocation money related to the city's West Loch housing projects and theft of $200,000 in change from coin-operated laundry machines at two city housing projects.
Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee said yesterday that he faxed Kahapea's attorney Don Wilkerson an agreement Tuesday calling for Kahapea to plead guilty to three counts in each of the remaining cases.
The agreement would require him to serve a 10-year jail term concurrent with the 50-year term he received in the Ewa Villages case, Lee said.
In exchange, the state is willing to drop the remaining counts. If Kahapea does not accept the deal by today, he will have to plead to every count on Monday or go to trial. In either case he faces an open jail term, Lee said.
Wilkerson, who had just concluded another trial, sought more time to prepare for Kahapea's trial and to discuss the agreement with his client. "It's a serious matter Mr. Kahapea has to consider."
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn denied Wilkerson's request to continue trial, but she continued trial on the West Loch case at co-defendant Harry Akana's request to July 30.
The state did not object to a continuance in the West Loch trial since the Middle Street trial is expected to take at least two months, Lee said.