Ex-Maui warden pleads
no contest to sex assault
WAILUKU >> A former Maui prison warden pleaded no contest yesterday to sexually assaulting a female inmate.
Albert Murashige, 46, faces up to 70 years in prison and an $85,000 fine when he is sentenced June 17 at 8:30 a.m. before acting Maui Circuit Judge Reinette Cooper.
He remains free on $100,000 bail.
Murashige agreed to plead no contest to two charges of sexual assault and two charges of attempted sexual assault in return for the prosecution dismissing nine other counts and agreeing to recommend no more than a 10-year sentence of imprisonment.
Under the agreement, the Hawaii Paroling Authority could determine that he serve less than the 10 years.
Before accepting his guilty plea yesterday, Cooper reminded Murashige that she is not bound by the agreement between his attorneys and the prosecution and that he could be sentenced to more than 10 years.
State Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville, interviewed later, said Murashige's plea to the four felony charges was a recognition of the serious nature of the offense.
In the 13 charges initially filed against him, Murashige was accused of sexually assaulting a then-44-year-old female inmate on five separate occasions in his office at the prison from May 1 through June 4.
His no-contest plea covers four separate occasions in May, but it does not include an alleged June 4 incident.
The inmate was serving time for felony drug convictions and was on a work furlough program at the time of the assaults.
Murashige was employed with the Department of Public Safety since 1980 and has served as Maui warden since 1991. The attorney general's office said Murashige left the warden's job Sept. 5.
The inmate wrote a letter to state Rep. Kika Bukoski (R, Pukalani-Ulupalakua) about the alleged incidents. Bukoski turned it over to the Department of the Attorney General, which immediately began investigating.
Murashige was arrested after investigators corroborated the accusations, according to the attorney general's office.