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Former Honolulu police officer Landon K. Rudolfo is going to jail for three months followed by three months of home confinement for knowingly buying and selling a stolen sport utility vehicle.
U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson handed down the sentence Wednesday. He gave Rudolfo until November to turn himself in to begin serving the sentence. This allows Rudolfo time to complete an elevator mechanic apprenticeship.
In May the Honolulu Police Department fired Rudolfo, who was with the department for 12 years. He was previously on unpaid leave.
A federal jury in March found Rudolfo guilty of trafficking a vehicle with an altered identification number. Rudolfo did not testify at the trial.
Another former police officer, Roddy Takao Tsunezumi, testified during the trial that he sold Rudolfo a 2000 Toyota 4Runner in 2011 for $3,000, after negotiating the transaction when both men were on the job at HPD headquarters. Tsunezumi said he told Rudolfo that the 4Runner was stolen and Rudolfo didn’t care.
Convicted car thief Jeremy Javillo testified that he stole the SUV that Tsunezumi sold to Rudolfo. He also said he switched the 4Runner’s vehicle identification number plate with one that was not stolen.
Rudolfo sold the SUV in 2013 for $6,500.
As part of his sentence, Rudolfo must reimburse the original owner and insurer of the 4Runner $6,560.
When Tsunezumi and Javillo testified, both men were serving 33-month federal prison sentences for an unrelated extortion scheme. After the trial, the government asked Watson to reduce their sentences for testifying against Rudolfo.
Watson re-sentenced Tsunezumi and Javillo in May to two-year prison terms and asked the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to transfer them to the Federal Detention Center here. Both men are scheduled to be released in October.
