Retired car dealer James Pflueger was released Friday from the Kauai Community Correctional Center and placed on "extended furlough for medical reasons" after just 11⁄2 months in jail for his part in a Kauai dam break that killed seven people.
State Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said he made the decision to release Pflueger, 89, based on the recommendation of an experienced Corrections Division physician who’s been observing and examining Pflueger.
"He believes we will not be able to appropriately care for him in any correctional facility. So, he recommended a release," Sakai said.
State Sen. Will Espero said he has mixed feelings about Pflueger’s release and wants to review Sakai’s decision.
Espero said he understands Pflueger has a serious hernia and is an elderly person, but other families have asked for medical releases on behalf of inmates and been denied.
"Seven innocent people died. … There’s a sense of injustice because many feel the seven months wasn’t long enough, and then to reduce it … seems a travesty," said Espero, chairman of the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee.
"There’s a perception that wealth and money can help in certain instances," he said.
Sakai declined to describe the details of Pflueger’s health, citing state and federal laws protecting the confidentiality of a patient’s health records — regardless of whether the patient is a felon.
Under the terms of his release, Pflueger has permission to leave his house only for medical care or for reporting to correctional officers for the remainder of his seven-month sentence.
He’s otherwise restricted to his house with an ankle bracelet tracking his whereabouts.
State Circuit Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano sentenced Pflueger on Oct. 15 to five years of probation and seven months in jail.
Pflueger pleaded no contest in July 2013 to a single felony count of reckless endangering, while his company Pacific 808 Properties LP pleaded no contest to seven counts of manslaughter.
Pflueger was scheduled to be sentenced in January 2014, but proceedings were delayed citing his poor health.
The Ka Loko Dam burst on March 14, 2006, sending 400 million gallons of water downstream on Kauai’s North Shore. Daniel Jay Arroyo, Alan Gareth Dingwall, Rowan Grey Makana Fehring-Dingwall, Aurora Solveig Fehring, Christina Michelle McNees, Timothy Wendell Noonan Jr. and Carl Wayne Rotstein were killed.
In 2009, Pflueger was a part of a group that agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by landowners whose properties were damaged by the flooding and by the families of victims.
Sakai said the decision to release Pflueger from jail wasn’t easy.
Sakai said he had to consider several factors, including the needs of Pflueger, the families of the victims and the limited budget of the state prison system.
"This is a decision where I can’t let my personal feelings get involved," he said.
Sakai said he asked the state attorney general to inform the families of victims about Pflueger’s furlough.
