One of three men charged with murder in the January 2004 daytime shootings at Pali Golf Course pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to new charges under a reworked plea agreement.

Kevin A. Gonsalves pleaded guilty to racketeering and participating in the operation of an illegal gambling business. The racketeering charge says Gonsalves took part in a criminal enterprise involved in acts of illegal gambling, extortion conspiracy, robbery and murder. Because the racketeering charge includes murder, it carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.

Two men were killed and another was seriously injured in the Jan. 7, 2004, shooting that started as a dispute between two groups vying to provide security for illegal gambling operations.

In exchange for Gonsalves' guilty pleas, the government promises to recommend a prison term of no more than 330 months or 27-1/2 years.

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway accepted Gonsalves' guilty pleas and said she sees no impediment to her accepting the plea agreement when she sentences Gonsalves in December.

But she said, “;It has been a difficult decision for me to consider”; a prison sentence other than the one Congress designated for murder, which is mandatory minimum of life in prison.

Mollway had rejected the previous plea agreements of Gonsalves and his co-defendants Ethan Motta and Rodney Joseph Jr. They pleaded guilty in February to murder and other charges in exchange for 27 1/2 -year prison terms. Mollway said the trio did not demonstrate that they provided substantial assistance to the government to qualify for sentences shorter than the mandatory minimum for murder.

The racketeering and illegal gambling charges were tacked on top of murder, racketeering (gambling) and illegal business charges against Gonsalves. If Mollway accepts Gonsalves' new plea agreement at sentencing, she will drop the previous charges against him.

The government filed the same new charges of racketeering and illegal gambling business against Motta and Joseph on top of murder and other charges. However, neither Motta nor Joseph is scheduled to plead guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady told Mollway yesterday if he is not able to reach agreements with the other two defendants in the next 48 hours, the government will no longer consider offering them plea deals and will proceed with trial. The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21. Gonsalves is not required to testify.

Gonsalves said that on Jan. 7, 2004, he was asked to arrange a meeting between two groups who had been providing security for the same illegal gambling operation in Honolulu. He said he rode in a van with members of one group who were attending a funeral at Hawaiian Memorial Park in Kaneohe. Motta and Joseph, members of his group, were waiting at Pali Golf Course.

“;We went up to the Pali Golf Course. Things happened and I wen shoot Mr. (Romelius) Corpuz (Jr.),”; Gonsalves said.

Corpuz and Lepo Taliese were killed in the shooting and Tinoimalu Sao was seriously injured.

Gonsalves and Joseph are charged with murder for allegedly shooting Corpuz. Motta is charged with murder for allegedly shooting Taliese and attempted murder for allegedly shooting Sao.