U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi sentenced former Honolulu police officer Richard Wayne "Rick" Raquino to four months in jail for lying to FBI agents about revealing the name and identity of an undercover police officer, the description of an undercover police vehicle and information and techniques for identifying and eluding police surveillance.
The judge ordered Raquino, 41, to turn himself in six weeks to begin his sentence.
Federal prosecutor Mark Inciong said at sentencing that Raquino promised a drug dealer he would warn her if the Drug Enforcement Administration was after her, told her how to prevent law enforcement from seizing her drugs and how to avoid positive drug test results.
Raquino also offered to check the license plates of cars at her home, to store her drugs at his home and to check on her case and similar cases, Inciong said.
Inciong said he has never heard of anything like this in all of his years as a federal prosecutor here and on the mainland.
"The most disturbing was the outing of the undercover officer to a known drug dealer," putting the officer in danger and forcing law enforcement to shut down state and federal investigations, Inciong said.
Defense lawyer Thomas Otake said Raquino pleaded guilty to lying. He said those lies did not cause any harm because investigators knew Raquino was lying.
Inciong said the case started as an investigation of Raquino’s drug use, which led to the arrest of his neighbor for drug distribution and her agreement to secretly record her conversations with Raquino.
Raquino helped his neighbor in exchange for sexual favors and illegal drugs, Kobayashi said, reading from Raquino’s pre-sentence investigation report.
He told court officials that his downward spiral started with the death of his daughter, Kiana Raquino, 19, on Dec. 9, 2009.
Raquino told Kobayashi that he didn’t realize until three months ago how much grief he still harbored. While awaiting sentencing, Raquino tested positive twice for drug use, on Oct. 17 and Nov. 1.
Kobayashi credited Raquino for checking himself in for mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment.
Raquino resigned from the Police Department in September after nearly 20 years as an officer. His last assignment was with the narcotics/vice division.
