Lawyer gets 6 years
for running ‘ice’

The sentencing judge grants
the defense claim of entrapment

A disbarred Honolulu attorney was sentenced to six years in federal prison yesterday for conspiring to smuggle drugs into Halawa prison and attempting to distribute methamphetamine.

During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay told Thomas Stephen Leong, 43, "This is a very serious crime to deliver drugs inside a prison, particularly for an attorney.

"You disrespect the very laws you are charged to uphold," Kay told Leong.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney William Shipley, who had asked for 155 to 188 months under federal sentencing guidelines, was "stunned" that Kay ordered a reduced sentence of 72 months. And he said he was equally stunned at Leong's speech to the court a few moments later, in which he accused the government of entrapment, as "a slap in the court's face."

Leong, who has already served one year in prison, has long held that he was the victim of government entrapment in a sting operation, and that he did not know he was involved in a drug transaction. He also claimed he was so ignorant about drug culture and slang that he did not understand the deal he was entering and that agents spoke in "drug code."

In court, he told Kay that he has "battled the forces of darkness" and that he is defending himself "against a corrupt government agency." He said his arrest was "the result of a carefully choreographed effort."

During more than 2- 1/2 hours of argument before the sentencing, Leong's attorney, Arthur Ross, presented multiple reasons for the court to reduce the sentence for Leong, who had no criminal record before his April 18, 2003, arrest.

The one argument that Kay granted was that government agents committed "sentencing entrapment," a form of misconduct aimed at getting a bigger prison sentence, when they gave Leong more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in their sting operation. Previously, Leong had only handled a few grams of the drug.

Leong asked the court for "a fair and just sentence" of 10 to 16 months.

"The judge gave him a big break," said Ross, adding, "The government set him up three times, and hit him big the third time to get a big sentence."

Leong was convicted last May by a federal jury on three counts stemming from the April 2003 arrest, in which he was found with two ounces of crystal methamphetamine that he purchased for $3,000 from an undercover agent at the Aloha Tower Marketplace.

One of Leong's clients, Halawa inmate Michael Alvarez, contacted police in early 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 smuggle them into the prison.

At trial, Leong's former defense attorney, Barry Edwards, argued that Leong was entrapped into committing the crimes by Alvarez, who became an informant for the Honolulu police.

Leong claimed he was only following Alvarez's instructions and had no control over the contents of the envelope or the amount of drugs it contained, including one that contained more than 50 grams.

Ross told Kay that Leong "got involved with the wrong people and was a bit naïve. He got into very serious trouble. He took a walk on the wild side, and he's pretty sorry for what he's done. It won't happen again."