OFFICIALS INITIATE CRIMINAL DETERRENT

WAILUKU - With a goal of deterring crime, the Maui County prosecutor's
office has initiated forfeiture proceedings for three Maui properties
where police reported finding marijuana-growing operations in recent
months.

The petitions, filed Tuesday in 2nd Circuit Court, cite a state law
saying property is subject to forfeiture when it is used in the
commission of certain crimes, including felony marijuana
cultivation.

"We have decided to start using the law to try and win our fight
against crime," said county Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Acob. "It
will be used in drug cases, gambling cases and in any other case
that's authorized by the statute."

He said the prosecutor's office is seeking a type of lien against the
properties so the state would receive proceeds if the properties were
sold in the future.

"We're not going to actually take control of the property," Acob said.
When there's more than one owner, only those involved would be
affected, he said.

The properties targeted in the three petitions include a parcel of
more than 2 acres on Door of Faith Road in Huelo, where police
responded to a shooting the night of Sept. 25.

Police said a 29-year-old man was shot by a resident after going to
the home with two 17-year-old boys to steal property. After shooting
the intruder, the resident was beaten with a statue, police said. Both
men were hospitalized.

A police detective obtained permission to search the residence of
Donald Regalmuto on the property, discovering two rooms that had been
converted into indoor marijuana-growing operations, according to
documents filed in the forfeiture case.

Police recovered 107 marijuana plants with root systems, 72 marijuana
clones without root systems, 115 black plastic pots and two black
plastic seedling trays, according to the documents.

A separate forfeiture petition was filed for a parcel of more than 2
acres on Laniloa Way in Haiku. During an Oct. 5, 2006, police raid
targeting resident Michael Covich, 706 marijuana plants ranging from 1
inch to 6 feet tall were found in the residence "as part of an
elaborate multistaged indoor growing operation," according to court
documents.

Also seized in the investigation by police and federal agents were 3
pounds of processed marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including 33
growing light systems, 45 electrical ballasts, 476 plastic growing
pots, seven plant cloning trays, 21 fans, 19 electrical timers, 10
metal light system rails, two water pumps, two dehumidifiers, an
electrical breaker box, electrical fittings, reflective insulation,
electrical wires, and books and publications for cultivating marijuana
plants, the documents say.

A man who was at the property during the search later "admitted to
being a worker in the indoor marijuana-growing operation, in which he
tended, watered and fertilized the marijuana plants," according to
court documents.

The man reportedly said he worked for and was paid by
Covich.

A third forfeiture petition was filed for a 9,600-square-foot parcel
on Makawao Avenue, where police found 187 marijuana plants - ranging
from seedlings to 2-foot-tall plants - in an outside hothouse on April
8, according to a summary of facts filed in court.

After going to the home while investigating the theft of a motorcycle
helmet, a police officer found resident Galen Vares beating a small
dog with a large stick, the summary says. Confronted by the officer,
Vares ran into the residence and refused to leave before Vares' minor
son told police they could search the home for Vares, the document
says.

Police officers reported they couldn't find Vares but did find the
marijuana plants.

The boy, who was arrested for the motorcycle helmet theft, reportedly
admitted that the plants were his, except for 10 to 15 smaller plants
that belonged to Vares. The boy said he grew the marijuana, then sold
it after it was dried, according to the court document.

A search of state and federal court records Friday showed no pending
criminal cases against Regalmuto, Covich or Vares.

While forfeiture proceedings aren't criminal, "it's directly related
to the criminal case because we're looking at the evidence," Acob
said. "That could be money used in the criminal activities or anything
that would have aided in the commission of the offense. It could be a
residence if the offense was being committed in the residence or it
could be a car if drug sales were made out of a car."

Acob said he knows of at least one prior forfeiture petition that was
filed by the Maui County prosecutor's office in a gambling case years
ago. But the prosecutor's office hasn't used the law often, he said.

"We started to look at this because it's a further deterrence," Acob
said. "Although it was available in the past, it seems like we need it
more than ever now. So we're going to try to use it, and hopefully
this will have a big impact on the commission of crimes."