Pubdate: Tue, 01 Apr 2003
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 2003 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.starbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/196
Author: Debra Barayuga
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

DRUG TESTER IS SORRY HE HAD HIS HAND OUT

A former employee of Drug Addiction Services of Hawaii said he took bribes
to alter drug-test results for federal defendants under supervised release
because he felt sorry for them.

Carl Hauoli Kaikaina, 48, himself a convicted felon, had been ordered by the
court to undergo urinalysis testing, making him aware of the seriousness and
consequences of his actions, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Hino.

"If he truly intended to help people, why was he charging people money?"
Hino argued yesterday against Kaikaina's request for a more lenient
sentence.

U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced Kaikaina yesterday to the
maximum under federal guidelines of 24 months in prison for soliciting and
accepting bribes on three occasions, plus one count of making a false
statement. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release
after he gets out of prison. She also fined him $1,000.

Drug Addiction Services contracts with the U.S. Probation Office to provide
drug testing to individuals, including pretrial detainees and convicted
defendants who must submit to drug testing while under supervised release.

Kaikaina was responsible for collecting urine samples from all male
defendants, testing them and forwarding the samples to a lab. He also
prepared reports to the U.S. Probation Office for purposes of billing and to
help probation officers decide the level of supervision a defendant needed.

Kaikaina admitted to soliciting bribes during a six- to eight-month period
before he was caught and interviewed by federal investigators on July 15. He
even admitted to soliciting and receiving a bribe the same day he was
interviewed, Hino said.

Kaikaina admitted to receiving payments on 32 occasions for falsifying urine
test results -- providing negative test results when he actually never
conducted the tests. Kaikaina initially told investigators he received
between $25 and $50 per bribe, but later admitted the range was $40 to $120
per bribe, Hino said. Kaikaina admitted to receiving about $2,060.

Gillmor said his actions were an "impediment and a roadblock" to the court
and the Probation Office's efforts to help people on supervised release stay
away from illegal substances.

Hino credited the FBI for responding quickly to the complaint by having one
of their agents pose undercover as a defendant on supervised release.

Kaikaina's attorney, Barry Edwards, had argued that Kaikaina be allowed to
serve half his sentence in home detention and the other half on probation
with some level of supervised release. Kaikaina, a single father, has a
10-year-old daughter.

Edwards said Kaikaina confessed when he was caught and has tried to make
amends by helping others with drug problems.

Kaikaina apologized to the court for his conduct and said he would accept
his sentence.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk