Former investigator gets
20-month term for bribery
A former Honolulu Liquor Commission investigator who admitted to receiving bribes for not citing Honolulu liquor establishments was sentenced to 20 months at a federal prison camp.
William Richardson Jr., 50, a former state deputy sheriff, pleaded guilty in August 2002 in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit racketeering and three counts of extortion.
William Richardson Jr.: The former city liquor law enforcer will serve time at a federal camp
He was the first to be sentenced of eight former Liquor Commission employees and supervisors who were charged in a 57-count indictment in May 2002 following a year-long investigation by the FBI and Honolulu police.
Richardson apologized to his friends and family, the public and especially the city for not doing the job he was entrusted with.
"I may have felt that I didn't ask anybody for anything that I wasn't guilty, but I did take the money, I did go along with my co-workers and supervisors, so I was wrong and I am wrong," he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright argued that a sentence of between 21 and 27 months was appropriate regardless of Richardson's cooperation with the prosecution.
As part of a plea agreement, Richardson testified for the government during the recent federal trial in which his former supervisor, Harvey Hiranaka, and fellow liquor investigator Eduardo Mina were convicted of federal racketeering, conspiracy and multiple extortion charges.
Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra said the evidence at trial indicated all eight defendants were involved in bribery payments totaling more than $200,000 over three years.
Don Wilkerson, Richardson's attorney, objected to the court considering the amount of loss without specific findings by the jury.
Until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a definitive ruling on the matter, Ezra also issued an alternate sentence of 20 months based on statutory provisions.
