Racketeering, gambling and animal cruelty charges were dismissed against most of the 35 people charged in two suspected cockfighting rings, but a Maui prosecutor said he would seek new indictments.
Maui Circuit Court judges Shackley Raffetto and Joseph Cardoza dismissed the charges Tuesday after defense attorneys pointed to grand jury transcripts noting that one juror had said he was related to a defendant and offered, "He's guilty."
Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp tried to argue that the remark was made in jest, but the judges agreed it undermined the process.
Hupp said yesterday he would present the same evidence to a different grand jury panel in an effort to re-indict the defendants, who form part of a group of 35 people arrested after a yearlong police investigation into cockfighting and gambling.
Meanwhile, negotiations continue on possible plea agreements, Hupp said.
The cases before Raffetto were connected to an investigation into hundreds of cockfighting matches held at the old Maui High School campus at Hamakuapoko.
The cases heard by Cardoza related to matches held at the Old Maui Block in Waikapu and near Maui Raceway Park in Pu'unene.
Some people arrested in the January police sweeps were involved in both operations, according to the indictments. Case Updates| Posted on Dec 29, 2004 - 12:33AM | A 65-year-old Kahului man charged with participating in cockfights was allowed to keep two roosters for displays and also was given a chance to keep criminal convictions off his record.
Edward Yasui was the last of more than 20 felony defendants sentenced for their involvement in cockfighting organizations in 2002.
Last week, 10 defendants were sentenced for their participation in one or two cockfighting organizations that were investigated by Maui police officer Bryan Manlapao, who worked undercover for most of 2002.
Manlapao attended cockfighting matches and gathered information on those involved, resulting in the indictments.
Acting 2nd Circuit Judge Reinette Cooper sentenced Yasui Tuesday morning to five years� probation and ordered him to pay a $1,600 fine.
She also allowed Yasui to keep two roosters that he said he was going to display at the Maui County Fair, as long as he doesn�t involve them with gambling or cockfighting.
�I�m going to allow you to keep the two roosters you are going to show at the fair with your two grandchildren,� Cooper said. �I think roosters are beautiful animals (unless) you use them to slash each other to death.�
Cooper also granted a motion to let Yasui clear his record if he successfully completes probation.
�I�d hate to see you do your golden years as a convicted felon,� Cooper said.
Keeping two roosters was one of two special requests defense attorney Philip Lowenthal made on behalf of Yasui.
Lowenthal also asked that Yasui be allowed to travel to Oahu for medical treatment without authorization from probation office officials.
�It just adds an extra hurdle,� Lowenthal said about having the probation office supervise Yasui as he makes his trips.
Cooper said she would allow Yasui to make trips in Hawaii without authorization of the probation office, but he needed to make arrangements with probation officials for out-of-state travel.
Lowenthal called Yasui a �good citizen� and �a good family person.�
He said Yasui retired from the county and also has been involved with the Maui County Fair.
This year, Yasui served as the fairgrounds coordinator.
Lowenthal said chicken fighting for Yasui was a hobby.
But now �he�s given up the chicken fighting for life,� the attorney said.
Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp objected to the defense�s request for Yasui to keep two roosters, saying that was what got Yasui into trouble in the first place.
Hupp also said the probation department could handle the other requests by Yasui, including one for �blanket permission� to travel to Oahu.
Yasui pleaded no contest to three counts of first-degree gambling, second-degree gambling and four counts of cruelty to animals.
As part of the plea agreement, the state dismissed a racketeering charge.
Yasui was indicted in connection with one of the organizations headed by 61-year-old Daniel Javier of Kihei, who last week received a $5,000 fine and five years� probation.
Javier organized cockfights in Waikapu. | | Source: Maui News - Dec 22, 2004 |
| Posted on Dec 18, 2004 - 6:05PM | A $5,000 fine was ordered Friday for a Kihei man who organized cockfights in Waikapu, running one of two illegal cockfighting operations targeted in a police undercover investigation two years ago.
Noting that a pre-sentence report said Daniel Javier was �at great risk to reoffend,� acting 2nd Circuit Judge Reinette Cooper warned him and other defendants that participating in cockfighting could have serious consequences.
�Now the line has been drawn in the sand where the police are not going to tolerate it,� Cooper said.
Kainalu Foreman, who was indicted in connection with the Waikapu cockfights, said cockfighting was still occurring, even though he and others arrested had stopped participating.
�They still fighting, like nothing wen� happen,� he said.
Cooper responded: �Eventually, they are going to wake up, too, when they start facing felonies, serious jail time and fines.�
This week, she sentenced 10 of the more than 20 people indicted on felony charges, including racketeering, for their involvement in 2002 in one or both of the cockfighting organizations.
For most of that year, Maui police officer Bryan Manlapao worked undercover, attending cockfighting matches and gathering information on those involved, resulting in the indictments.
Others were previously sentenced, leaving just one felony defendant awaiting sentencing next week.
As part of their five years� probation, Cooper ordered the defendants not to gamble or attend cockfights and not to own fighting roosters.
She gave most of the defendants a chance to keep convictions off their records if they stay out of trouble during their probations.
But she denied such requests by Javier and William Riddick, citing their prior felony convictions.
Cooper noted that Javier had minimized his actions because of what he called his �long-term involvement with cockfighting.�
�This is just what he thought was a way of life, the way he was brought up in the Filipino culture,� said defense attorney Keith Tanaka. �He wasn�t making money from this whole operation. He was trying to do what everybody wanted him to do, which was organize the cockfights so they could fight their chickens.
�If police had told him �just shut down,� he would have done that.�
The 61-year-old suffered a heart attack in May, has other health problems and is still supporting two of his four children, Tanaka said.
As she sentenced Javier, Cooper warned: �If you want to spend your golden years sitting in a jail cell, reoffend. As long as it�s illegal, you are going to have to obey those laws.�
Javier had pleaded no contest to racketeering, 18 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 20 counts of cruelty to animals, and second-degree promotion of gambling.
Cooper ordered a $1,500 fine for Riddick, 49, of Haiku, who pleaded no contest to three counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals, with the prosecution dismissing a racketeering charge.
Arrested in connection with the group headed by Glenwood Brown Sr. that held cockfights at the Old Maui High School campus in Hamakuapoko, Riddick said he had been campaigning for Maui County mayor at the time.
�He was telling people, �Vote for me and I�ll see what I can do to make cockfighting legal,�� Tanaka said. �He felt like he was being singled out because of the fact that he was running for office at the time.�
Cooper told Riddick: �Find another place to campaign.�
The judge ordered $500 fines for Foreman, 30, of Makawao, and for Brandon Balangitao, 24, of Wailuku, who both had racketeering charges dismissed as part of plea agreements.
Foreman pleaded no contest to first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Balangitao, who was seen accepting wages and acting as a gatekeeper at the Javier cockfighting matches, pleaded no contest to first-degree promotion of gambling, nine counts of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Cooper ordered a $500 fine for 62-year-old Amor Canosa of Kahului. He pleaded no contest to racketeering and nine counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals as part of the Javier group.
Defense attorney Chris Dunn, who represented Canosa and David Decoite, who was charged as part of the Brown group, described both men as �peripheral players.�
Dunn argued against larger fines sought by the prosecution, saying that defendants over the years were led to believe cockfighting offenses would be handled as misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor crimes instead of the felony charges brought.
Decoite, 45 of Makawao, was fined $1,000 after pleading no contest to two counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Cooper ordered 100 hours of community service but no fines for Dawn Alo, 23, of Kahului, and Brian James Frias, 37, of Makawao.
Tanaka said Alo sold food at the Javier games in Waikapu but didn�t participate in the cockfighting or even watch the matches. �She was just there,� Tanaka said.
She pleaded no contest to racketeering, 10 counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and four counts of sale of liquor without a license.
Frias, who was tied to the Brown group, pleaded no contest to racketeering, three counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals and two counts of gambling.
On Wednesday, Cooper ordered a $1,000 fine for Louis Matthew Gomes III, 37, of Pukalani, who was indicted in connection with both cockfighting groups.
He had pleaded no contest to two counts of racketeering, 14 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling and 14 counts of cruelty to animals.
Deputy Public Defender Wendy Hudson described Gomes as a 10-year Maui County employee with four children. He wasn�t paid for acting as a referee at matches held by both groups, Hudson said.
�He was very neutral and they trusted him to be fair,� she said.
Cooper imposed a $500 and 100 hours community service for Wilfred Pua Brown, 61, of Wailuku. He pleaded no contest to racketeering and 23 counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Defense attorney David Sereno said Wilfred Brown went to cockfights, helping set up chairs and check weight tags of fighting chickens to help his brother, who was identified as heading the Brown group. | | Source: Maui News - Dec 18, 2004 |
| Posted on Dec 11, 2004 - 7:30PM | Glenwood Brown Sr. and four others were sentenced Friday for their parts in illegal gambling organizations.
Brown, 56, of Haiku, had a 60-day jail term suspended as he was placed on five years� probation for racketeering and other felony charges.
Acting 2nd Circuit Judge Reinette Cooper denied Brown�s request to keep the convictions off his record, citing his numerous prior misdemeanor gambling convictions.
But she granted similar requests by his 21-year-old son, Glenwood Brown III, and the three other defendants � Rodney Paul Navarro, 60, of Paia; Ronny James Rojas, 24, of Makawao; and Glendale �Kaui� Kiili, 46, of Wailuku.
Each had pleaded no contest to racketeering, promoting gambling and cruelty to animals for their involvement in one of two organizations identified as running illegal cockfights on Maui in 2002.
In addition to the group headed by Glenwood Brown Sr., police said an organization headed by Daniel Javier organized cockfights in remote areas in Waikapu and near the drag strip in Puunene.
An undercover police officer infiltrated the operations, attending cockfights to gather information that led to the indictment of more than 20 Maui residents.
Navarro and Rojas were implicated in the Brown group, while Kiili was indicted as part of the Javier organization.
�All five of these individuals were intricately involved in one of the two organizations,� said Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp. He recommended fines of $10,000 each for all defendants except Glenwood Brown Sr.
Hupp recommended a six-month jail term and $20,000 fine for the older Brown.
�Glenwood Brown Sr. was, in fact, the house,� Hupp said. �He was the one running the organization. He was the one collecting and paying out debts. In addition, he brought his son into the organization.
�He taught his son, �This is what we do. We do illegal activities on a regular basis.��
Hupp said the Brown family had a fighting rooster farm on its property.
But defense attorney Keith Tanaka said Glenwood Brown Sr., who had been laid off from a painting job after 24 years, didn�t profit greatly from cockfighting.
�He was just doing it because people wanted somebody to run these games,� Tanaka said. �All he was doing was helping and refereeing at times.�
Brown was sentenced on charges of racketeering, 24 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 25 counts of cruelty to animals and second-degree promotion of gambling.
�What I did, I know was wrong,� Brown said. �But I just was doing it for the people themselves.�
His son, who is taking classes at Maui Community College, pleaded no contest to racketeering, 23 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 24 counts of cruelty to animals and second-degree promotion of gambling.
The setup at the cockfights included a pit where two roosters at a time would fight, often to the death. Each rooster would have a gaff, a sharp metal spur, attached to a leg.
Hundreds of people attended the cockfights, betting among themselves on matches and buying food and beer from concession stands.
As Cooper imposed the sentences Friday, she said she didn�t have to view photographs taken at some of the cockfights to understand the sophistication and intricacies of the operations.
�I know firsthand how popular these events are,� said Cooper, who attended cockfights on Oahu in the 1960s as a teenager whose stepfather raised gamecocks.
Her stepfather kept the birds at the family home in Waipahu �back when you could have six or seven birds and the neighbors wouldn�t complain about the crowing at 3 and 4 o�clock in the morning because everybody had birds crowing,� she said.
She recalled helping her father tie boxing gloves on the animals that he cared for. �He would make sure me and my five brothers were well fed and we had a roof over our head, but the birds also would be well fed,� Cooper said.
She remembered watching how the birds were weighed for a match, how �razor-sharp knives� were precisely attached to roosters� legs and how the birds were �riled up� for a fight that would usually end with one or both roosters dying.
�My family was a part of that activity for a very long time,� Cooper said. �I know exactly how they are carried out. It�s a gambling den where a lot of money changes hands.�
But she said she didn�t remember cockfights as being involved in drug abuse, as a Maui Police Department letter to the court said they are now.
Cooper said her thinking about cockfighting changed after she moved to the Mainland to attend college, living with a couple who had two beagles and a cat.
�I learned to love animals, to see just how wonderful animal ownership is,� she said. �I came to hate the idea of using animals in dogfights and chicken fights.
�I have learned through the years that cockfighting is what it is. It�s as brutal and archaic a blood sport as you can ever find.�
While cockfighting was generally ignored by police in the 1960s, Cooper told the defendants that times had changed and �you folks need to change your thinking and change your behavior.�
�Find other ways to occupy yourself because you are on notice that it will no longer be tolerated,� Cooper said. �We have become more sensitive about how we treat our animals, even our chickens.�
She ordered all five defendants to stay away from gambling, including cockfighting, and not to own fighting roosters as part of their five years� probation.
Cooper imposed fines of $500 each for Glenwood Brown III, Navarro, Rojas and Kiili.
She suspended a 60-day jail term for Navarro and gave him a chance to keep convictions off his record.
Tanaka said Navarro would lose his job of nearly 40 years at Hawaiian Airlines if he were convicted of the charges of racketeering, 17 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 18 counts of cruelty to animals and second-degree promotion of gambling.
�He�s a good man, he�s always helpful,� Tanaka said. �He was helping referee these cockfights. They knew he was a fair person. Everyone trusted him to be the referee.�
Cooper said, �It would be a terrible, terrible waste� not to give Navarro the chance �even though you have a terrible record of gambling and chicken fighting.�
In addition to the fines, Cooper ordered Rojas and Kiili to each perform 100 hours of community service.
Rojas, a heavy equipment operator, had pleaded no contest to racketeering and 19 counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Kiili pleaded no contest to racketeering, 15 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 17 counts of cruelty to animals and second-degree promotion of gambling.
Kiili, who works as a bouncer at a Wailuku bar, was a gatekeeper at the cockfights to ensure that no one was hurt or entered the ring, Tanaka said. | | Source: The Maui News - Dec 11, 2004 |
| Posted on Dec 5, 2004 - 10:55AM | While ordering the five defendants not to gamble or attend or participate in cockfights and not to own roosters while on probation for the next five years, acting 2nd Circuit Judge Reinette Cooper stopped short of imposing larger fines of $5,000 to $20,000 that had been sought by the prosecution.
She also didn�t order a jail term recommended by the prosecution for Clariss Javier, who was described by police as running one of the cockfighting organizations with her husband, Daniel Javier.
"I don�t personally feel like this crime is so egregious that it warrants jail for everybody . . . even though your enterprise was pretty sophisticated," Cooper said. "That�s not, to me, along the lines of people selling ice, robbing people, beating up people."
Those sentenced Friday were among more than 20 Maui residents indicted on charges of racketeering and other felony counts in some of the first organized crime cases involving illegal cockfighting in the state.
Maui police officer Bryan Manlapao, then a police recruit, was enlisted to work undercover to infiltrate the organizations. From February to December 2002, he observed hundreds of cockfighting matches, including ones held by the Javier organization in remote areas near a Waikapu golf course and off Mokulele Highway near the drag strip, police said.
The undercover officer also went to cockfights on the Old Maui High School campus in Hamakuapoko that were organized by another group, which police said was headed by Glenwood Brown Sr.
Photos taken during some of the cockfights showed a pit where two roosters at a time, each with a gaff attached to a leg, would fight, often until the death of one rooster, Hupp said. He said hundreds of people attended the cockfights, which included concession stands selling food and beer.
Clariss Javier told police that the organization took a 10 percent cut of all official bets, which could exceed $100,000 at derbies involving multiple matches, Hupp said. He said spectators also placed bets among themselves.
Clariss Javier, 44, of Kihei, works full time as a cashier and provides day care for four children, Tanaka said.
Her 21-year-old son, Dayton Javier, who was also sentenced Friday, works full time as an overnight stock clerk. �I learned my lesson from this case, and I�m not going to go back,� he said in court.
Noting that Clariss Javier and Dayton Javier had no previous criminal convictions, Cooper gave them a chance to keep convictions off their records.
Clariss Javier had pleaded no contest to racketeering, 18 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 20 counts of cruelty to animals, second-degree promotion of gambling and five counts of selling liquor without a license. She was fined $1,000.
Dayton Javier pleaded no contest to racketeering, 16 counts of first-degree promotion of gambling, 18 counts of cruelty to animals, 12 counts of gambling and second-degree promotion of gambling. He was fined $500.
Also sentenced Friday were retired brothers Robert Barreras, 64, of Makawao, and Primitivo Barreras, 66, of Kahului, who were described as being part of the Javier group; and Daniel Hanalei Lani, 37, of Wailuku, who was tied to both cockfighting groups.
Robert Barreras pleaded no contest to racketeering and six counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals.
Primitivo Barreras pleaded no contest to racketeering, eight counts of first-degree promotion of gambling and nine counts of cruelty to animals.
Lani pleaded no contest to racketeering, five counts each of first-degree promotion of gambling and cruelty to animals, and four counts of gambling.
Cooper cited prior cockfight-related convictions for the three men and denied their requests to keep the latest convictions off their records. She ordered fines of $500 each for the three men.
Defense attorney Keith Tanaka said none of the defendants had participated in cockfighting while the criminal charges have been pending the past two years.
He said police knew where the cockfights were being held and would regularly show up to arrest those caught fighting roosters in the pit on misdemeanor charges. Others who were at the cockfights but not involved in fighting the roosters wouldn�t be arrested, Tanaka said.
�They were doing something which they knew was illegal,� Tanaka said. �But because of the past practice, they thought it was OK to continue.�
Instead of launching the undercover investigation, police could have asked those involved to stop the cockfights and they would have cooperated, Tanaka said.
�This has been going on for years if not decades,� he said.
Cooper said the defendants may have been lulled into thinking they could keep having cockfights, but she warned that was no longer the case.
�Maui Police Department has become proactive, and they are going to continue to be proactive,� Cooper said.
�It�s got to stop. This is not the �30s and �40s plantation camps. We�re becoming more civilized. You want to gamble, you go to Vegas, throw away your money. It�s not going to be allowed on Maui.�
Sixteen others, including Brown and Daniel Javier, are awaiting sentencing later this month | | Source: The Maui News - Dec 4, 2004 |
| Posted on Apr 11, 2003 - 8:09PM | | Racketeering, gambling and animal cruelty charges were dismissed against most of the 35 people charged in two suspected cockfighting rings, but a Maui prosecutor said he would seek new indictments. |
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