Liquor patrol
called corruptCalls for reform follow the bribery
convictions of 2 former inspectors
Honolulu's night liquor enforcement section was running a corrupt enterprise, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright said yesterday after the bribery convictions of two former liquor investigators.
A U.S. District Court jury yesterday convicted former liquor investigation supervisor Harvey T. Hiranaka and investigator Eduardo C. Mina of federal racketeering, conspiracy and multiple extortion charges for taking bribes to overlook violations.
Harvey T. Hiranaka: He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of 10 counts
Six other former liquor investigators previously pleaded guilty to similar charges.
"These gentlemen were getting paid taxpayer dollars as their salary, and yet evidence shows they weren't doing their jobs," Seabright said. "Not only were they taking money from the bar owners, they were really taking taxpayer money because they weren't doing their jobs, which is what the taxpayers paid them to do."
Liquor Commission administrators could not be reached for comment.
Councilman Charles Djou said the convictions highlight the need for reform to stop "this never-ending string of scandals."
"I hope we do not wait for yet another sex-for-permit or bribery conviction before we all agree on the need to reform the liquor commission system," he said in a prepared statement.
All eight defendants worked as investigators on the night shift and were indicted in May 2002 following an undercover investigation by the FBI and the cooperation of then-liquor investigator Charles Wiggins, who secretly tape-recorded fellow investigators between October 2000 and May 2001.
Wiggins received a total of $10,000 from bar owners and fellow investigators over a year while posing as a crooked investigator. There's no way of knowing how much money the eight other investigators received or how long the practice was in place before the investigation began, Seabright said.
Mina's attorney, Clifford Hunt, said he was disappointed in the verdicts and that they expect to appeal.
"We felt the government's evidence did not show that he was involved in the conspiracy and showed to the contrary that the other liquor investigators were trying to keep him out of their operation," Hunt said.
Hunt contended at trial that Mina had been pressured into admitting to federal agents that he had accepted bribes.
While Mina may have accepted $40 in one instance, Hunt said, the government did not show it was received with an expectation of something in return.
Federal Public Defender Pamela Byrne, who represented Hiranaka, also indicated they expect to appeal.
At trial, Byrne characterized the money received by Hiranaka as "gifts," not bribes, and that the investigators were part of a culture of "gift-giving" by bar owners.
Hiranaka, convicted on 10 counts, and Mina, convicted on three counts, will be sentenced Feb. 14. They face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count. The remaining six liquor investigators also await sentencing.
