Jury finds lawyer guilty
in drug ringA FedEx sticker sinks a smuggling
operation at Halawa prison
A Honolulu attorney was found guilty yesterday of conspiring to smuggle drugs into Halawa prison and attempting to distribute methamphetamine.
A federal jury also found Thomas Stephen Leong, 42, guilty of possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay ordered Leong, 42, taken into custody pending his sentencing Oct. 25.
Leong was arrested April 18, 2003, with two ounces of crystal methamphetamine that he purchased for $3,000 from an undercover officer at the Aloha Tower Marketplace.
Halawa inmate Michael Alvarez, a client of Leong, contacted Honolulu police early in 2003 claiming to have smuggled drugs into Halawa. He told police that Leong would obtain the drugs for him and give them to a prison guard who would be paid to sneak it into the prison.
At trial, defense attorney Barry Edwards argued that Leong was "entrapped" into committing the offenses by Alvarez, who became an informant for Honolulu police.
Leong claimed he was only following Alvarez' instructions and that he didn't know he was participating in a drug deal when he brought an envelope to exchange with a man he knew only as "Frank" at Aloha Tower Marketplace.
Leong also denied admitting to police and federal prosecutors that the reason he went to Aloha Tower Marketplace was to exchange $3,000 for drugs that were destined for Halawa.
Police detective Michael Cho testified he inadvertently forgot to record Leong's confession and didn't realize his mistake until later. However, an assistant U.S. attorney who spoke with Leong after his arrest said Leong admitted he was there to exchange money for drugs.
The defense attacked the testimony of Lani Soliven, the wife of a Halawa inmate who said she was contacted by Alvarez to deliver drugs to Leong.
Soliven testified she delivered drugs to Leong at least three times in January 2003 and on one of those occasions, she helped Leong package the drugs. She said she watched as Leong used tongs to place the drugs into a priority mail envelope, stamped it "confidential legal documents." She said Leong had her seal, address and mail the envelope to an inmate at Halawa who was housed near Alvarez.
Prosecutors said the scheme fell apart when workers at Federal Express slapped their packing slip on the envelope, covering the "confidential legal documents" stamp.
Prison procedures call for mail stamped "confidential" to be opened by the inmate in the presence of an adult corrections officer so no contraband gets through. Because the envelope appeared thicker than usual and no confidential stamp was visible, a supervisor at Halawa opened the package and discovered the drugs, triggering an investigation.
Leong faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for the possession with intent to distribute conviction. He faces maximum penalties of 20 years for each of the conspiracy and attempted distribution counts.
Since he has no prior convictions, Leong could qualify for a "safety valve" for first-time offenders that would exempt him from the mandatory minimum sentence.