No-contest plea
entered in book thefts
A state employee has pleaded no contest to taking $350 in driver's education workbooks and selling them for his benefit.
Solomon Batoon, 56, a driver's education officer for the Judiciary's Driver's Education Division and at one time its administrator, entered pleas yesterday in Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree theft that allegedly occurred in 1998.
Defense attorney Michael Green said that in entering a plea, Batoon is not admitting to any wrongdoing. Batoon felt it was better to put the case behind him, Green said.
Batoon entered a no-contest plea because any admission of guilt would have affected his coaching position at Campbell High School, where he was recently hired, Green said. Batoon continues to work for the state as a driver's education officer, developing curriculum and scheduling instructors.
Deputy Attorney General Colleen Chun said Batoon was accused of taking $350 worth of workbooks and providing them to another individual in Hilo seeking certification as a private driver's education instructor. The individual paid for the books, but Batoon deposited the payment into his account.
Workbooks are usually included in fees paid by individuals convicted of traffic violations and ordered by the court to take driver's education classes.
The Judiciary referred the case to the state attorney general after it learned Batoon flew to Hilo purportedly on state business but ended up delivering the workbooks to the individual, Chun said.
In the second theft count, Batoon, who runs his own driver's education business, called Top Driver Hawaii Driving and Safety Agency, ran driver's education classes for Amfac employees on Kauai. He ordered workbooks for Amfac but allegedly never paid the mainland company that supplied the workbooks and billed him for $1,596.
Batoon, who will be sentenced Sept. 23, has asked that the court defer his no-contest plea. Green said they expect the court to grant the deferral. Chun said the state will oppose a deferral because Batoon's conduct was "very intentional."
Officials took long to prosecute the offenses, which allegedly occurred between March and May 1998, because of the amount of documents involving the case, Chun said. The charges reflect those the state was able to obtain evidence in and prove, she said.