City workers arrested in alleged drug scheme involving prison inmates
Posted: Mar 23, 2012 3:48 PM EDTUpdated: Mar 23, 2012 11:47 PM EDT
State sheriffs arrested Spencer Cabato, Leroy Kamealoha, Edward Mitsuda and Gordon Ng.CONNECT WITH US!
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Four city labor supervisors and eight inmates are under investigation for allegedly trying to sneak contraband into the Oahu Community Correctional Center.
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The city parks employees were tasked with supervising prisoners who were working out in the community. State authorities say they arrested the 12 after discovering drugs and other contraband upon their return to the correctional facility Thursday.
We're told one of the arrested city employees, Spencer Cabato, is the brother of city Parks Director Gary Cabato.
The state's public safety director says her deputy sheriffs, narcotics enforcement officers and corrections personnel did an excellent job in preventing the contraband from entering OCCC, but at the same time it was a sad day because the case puts the inmate work program in jeopardy.
Certain inmates have earned the right to leave the facility and do community service work while being supervised by city parks employees.
"They'll go and make sure the grass is kept down low and not interfering with the public and they'll do larger projects, such as they may have gone down to the North Shore to clean up the storm debris we just had," Craig Mayeda, city parks maintenance and recreation services administrator, explained.
But state Public Safety Director Jodie Maesaka-Hirata recently received troubling information about some of the work lines, that inmates were being left unattended and even being allowed to go swimming, which is strictly prohibited.
She says she couldn't believe it and wanted to see for herself, so she joined her law enforcement officers on surveillance Thursday. They wound up at Ala Moana Beach Park, which is an unauthorized site for the inmate work lines.
"They were near the vehicles, the inmates, but they were pretty much left unattended. They were walking around," she said. "None of them were in the water at the time."
When the inmates and their supervisors eventually returned to OCCC, investigators conducted a search of the city's vehicles and say they found a drug pipe, a couple of packets of what appeared to be crystal methamphetamine, and several bags of tobacco.
Eight inmates -- Clyde Hayakawa, Eric Aiwohi, Jason Mano, Brett Ragan, Joseph Rivera, Anousack Hamilton, Anthony Ioakea and Allan Manuel -- were arrested.
City labor supervisors Spencer Cabato, Gordon Ng, Edward Mitsuda and Leroy Kamealoha were also arrested and then released while the investigation continues.
"To see these individuals who have many years vested in the city conduct themselves that way, just being lackadaisical or just not having a care about what's happening, really bothered me," Maesaka-Hirata said.
Maesaka-Hirata says inside prison walls, a pack of cigarettes can go anywhere from $200 to $500.
"It is very dangerous," she said about prison contraband. "It's not just dangerous for the inmates, it's dangerous for our staff if a fight breaks out or something happens."
The city says the labor supervisors are all trained on leading the inmate work lines, and are taught what to do and what not to do.
"The four employees are currently on leave without pay pending investigation," Mayeda said. "That's about all I could say about what's happening."
Mitsuda and Kamealoha each have 22 years of service with the city parks department. Ng has been with the department for 11 years, and Spencer Cabato has five years of service.
Their job title is Labor Supervisor I, a position that pays $2,995 to $3,308 per month.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle says the city plans to cooperate fully with the criminal investigation and will not have any further comment until the probe is completed.
Copyright 2012 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Replies
Okay people, I need to stop being pissed at this problem and let the system work out it' s process. I just wish we all learn and decide in our heads that we are going to move into a better way of life for the future generations.
I'm dripping with houseless evictions and I really don't know how to respond to this shit! But, I am trying to deal with the present problem and of course to keep everybody talking and moving to leave and give up their Malamalahoe (sp) rights in Hawaii or stand on their feet to take a stand to atleast go understand the law as it is written in the Hawaii's constitution Preamble!
I am dam pisst off with this story. I do help out at the homeless and I hate that drug shit! It is hurtful for everyone, and the fricken drug dealers make out like the devil himself. That's the very center of the problem.
One such sweep, the prisoners were cleaning up the trash that the houseless was not able to take with them. I went there to try and pick-up the kittens that was abandoned. The prisoners were cleaning the very area that the cat's were. I checked with the supervisor first, actually, he approached me cause I had the cat house-carrier in my hand. I also checked with the police officers too before I went on looking for the kittens.
I said hello to the prisoners, did my body language of nodding my head..I said some cheery things--and they in turn responded with respect. The supervisor was watching me and the prisoners the whole time that I was there.
And when my community was switching over from cesspool to sewer line..prisoners came to help dig the ditches, that too turned into a mess with the community, but I blame the state and DHHL for being cheap and not pay for the laborer's employed by the contractors.
Prisoners, was used to widen the Pali Road in ancient history and this is disturbing to me.
We pay prisoners 25 cents per hour in contemporary times, how sad.
Politically, something smells bad here! I don't know what the hell is happening, but I'm sure someones looking for budget monies, a promotion, and or preying on the innocent for their lacking in administration training and protocol. The problem lies at the top and not at the bottom. For the safety of all, I am more concern with the prisoner acting out while outside of the prison facility than inside. So something stinks here!
Why is the city employees expected to supervise prisoners? Where was the state's supervision? One with a badge and swearing in to enforce the law. Was the city employees sworn in? Is there job description requirement to supervise with enforcement? If so, was the city employees carrying guns, or tazers?
Ice (crystal meth) is so fricken bad shit! All that were arrested should be given a drug test to check who owned that dam shit!
This to me was a bad investigation gone wrong and down right an entrapment, scape goating and lot's of innocent people affected by this. Finding the shit, is not enough I want to know who the hell used the dam shit at the time of the incident! If the city, and state can give houseless a piss test on site (parks) then they all should have had an on site piss test too.
Where is the union on this? Where is the lawyers on this. Where is ACLU--obviously something is wrong here.
If the city employees are innocent they should file a class action suit upon the families they take their pay check home to feed, put shelter, and pay bills. If they are the cause for contraband to go into prisons then they should take the consequences that comes with this type of behavior. But, if they were the victims too, then they should fight back and prove their innocence. They owe it to their families.