Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jan 2013
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2013 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Nelson Daranciang
Page: B1

EX-OFFICER GETS 8 MONTHS IN POT CASE

Michael Steven Chu Seeks Pardon and Says Aiding Others Is Now His Focus

Former Honolulu police officer Michael Steven Chu said in federal 
court Friday that he knows he betrayed the public's trust and hurt a 
lot of people when he helped his girlfriend grow and sell marijuana.

He said he will never do it again and that he has opened a new 
chapter in his life dedicated to helping others. He asked members of 
his family to forgive him and hopes to become someone they can be proud of.

U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Chu on Friday 
to eight months in jail for conspiring to grow and possess marijuana 
to sell. She gave him until Feb. 13 to turn himself in to begin 
serving his jail term.

The maximum penalty under the law is five years in prison.

Under advisory federal court sentencing guidelines, with credit for 
Chu assisting the government in his prosecution, Mollway could have 
issued a sentence of up to a year.

Mollway will sentence Chu's girlfriend, Athena Sui Lee, next month.

Honolulu police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration agents 
arrested Chu and Lee in April when the pair showed up at Lee's 
Kapiolani Boulevard apartment as agents and officers were executing a 
search warrant. The DEA said Chu was carrying plant nutrients and 
other material used for growing plants indoors, and Lee was carrying 
a bag containing $12,000 cash in $2,000 bundles.

The DEA said it found a pound of processed marijuana in Chu's vehicle 
and 20 marijuana plants growing in Lee's apartment. The agents also 
found a large amount of cash in the apartment.

In Chu's rented Mililani Mauka home, the DEA said it found 10 to 20 
marijuana plants in another indoor growing operation.

The Police Department fired Chu after the 13-year veteran pleaded 
guilty in August.

Lee pleaded guilty in July.
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