Hawaiian police officer acquitted of payroll fraud

A Honolulu police officer was recently found not guilty of tampering with a government record and being an accomplice to third-degree theft after he was accused of falsifying a police report of a DUI roadblock arrest in order for his supervisor to collect six hours of overtime pay, according to KGMB News.

Leighton Kato told the court that he included his supervisor's name on the report after hearing from another sergeant that he had been present at the checkpoint.

Two sergeants and three other officers - all members of the Honolulu Police Department's traffic enforcement unit - are scheduled to go to trial for the case, and a seventh pleaded guilty to record tampering and is presently awaiting sentencing.

The jury took 15 minutes to deliberate before returning the verdict of not guilty.

"To charge an entire unit was unfair," said Kato's attorney, Thomas Otake. "In doing so, an innocent man had to stand trial for a crime he did not commit."

If Kato had been found guilty, he would have had to serve up to a year in jail or pay a $2,000 fine for each charge, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser.