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Ex-Navy man claims self-defense in killing and burning of stepfather

Lawyer tells what led to Ewa Beach killing

By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Timothy Adarna doesn’t deny that he killed his stepfather and set the body on fire. But he claims it wasn’t murder.

“It started with self-defense and it ended up as EMED (extreme mental or emotional disturbance),” said David Hayakawa, Adarna’s lawyer.

Adarna, 20, is on trial in Circuit Court for second-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the Nov. 16, 2006, death of Robert Ramos and fire at Ramos’ Ewa Beach home.

Ramos, 55, died from stab wounds on the sides of his neck, which cut the carotid arteries that transport blood to and from the head. He also had a stab wound in the back of his neck that fractured a vertebra, a stab wound in his back which punctured a lung, cuts on his face, other cuts on his head consistent with a pickax and defensive wounds on his left hand, said Kevin Takata, deputy city prosecutor.

Hayakawa said a series of events in the months leading up to Ramos’ death had built up the stress level in the Ramos household. They included Adarna’s decision to accept early discharge from the Navy, the death of his oldest brother from injuries he suffered when he was thrown from the bed of a pickup truck that Adarna was driving, and his mother’s depression because of the death.

“They never talked about it; they didn’t address it,” Hayakawa said.

He said Ramos forbade his children from staying in the house during the day on weekdays. On Nov. 16, 2006, a Thursday, Ramos returned home in the morning to get some tools and found Adarna at home and unleashed what had been building up for months, Hayakawa said.

“That dam hole in the back burst, and out rushed that emotion and destroyed everything in its path,” he said.

In the confrontation between the two men, Ramos was holding a pickax, and Adarna a knife he used when diving, Hayakawa said. He said Adarna remembers seeing Ramos’ eyes up close, then nothing else until he was on top of his stepfather’s dead body.

Hayakawa said Adarna does not remember how he started the fire, but remembers when the flames exploded.

To illustrate that Adarna was not thinking clearly, he pointed out that Adarna had tried to use water-based paint as an accelerant to start the fire. And he left evidence of what he had done in a trash can near the bus stop where his hanai sister had seen him and briefly talked to him immediately following the deadly events at home, Hayakawa said.

“That casual encounter led to evidence which broke the case,” Takata said.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/07/19/news/story10.html

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Marine sentenced to five years for identity theft

Judge imprisons identity thief for victimizing fellow Marines

By Gene Park
gpark@starbulletin.com

Cpl. Daniel Alfieri deserved the five-year prison term he received yesterday for stealing the identities of fellow Kaneohe Marines while they were deployed to Iraq, one of his victims said.

“We will never forget what he did. He waited in ambush like a spider,” said Staff Sgt. Shawn Garrett, who added that the sentence was justified because of what appeared to be a calculated scheme by Alfieri pulled right after the Marines were deployed.

Alfieri had pleaded no contest to 14 counts of identity theft and eight other related charges for stealing the identities of five Kaneohe Marines.

Alfieri asked for a five-year probation, citing post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms of bipolar disorder. He also cited his years of service in the Marines and his clean record.

Circuit Judge Randal Lee sentenced Alfieri to five years in prison, calling his claims of disorders “questionable.”

“In essence what the defendant did was steal from his own family,” said Lee, adding that giving a probation sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime.

Alfieri was accused of using personal information of his fellow Marines to apply for credit cards over a pay phone and the Internet. He stole a credit card already issued to one of the Marines and applied for another card using that Marine’s name.

He made various small purchases at grocery and retail stores, restaurants and gas stations.

Alfieri apologized to the victims yesterday and asked the judge for deferral of his no-contest plea, hoping to retain his clean record. He said he wanted to seek medical help for his mental state.

“My mind is truly not in a healthy place,” said the married father of two.

Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter said prosecutors requested five years, and not the more than 50 years Alfieri could have received, because they recognized Alfieri’s years of military service and clean record.

Garrett was deployed in Iraq last year when his wife, Andrea, called him about a new credit card created under his name. Alfieri tried to open five credit cards under Garrett’s name and was able to create one.

A postal worker discovered the falsely created card before Alfieri was able to use it. But the damage was done, Garrett said. He began to worry about his wife’s safety when he should have been focused on the mission, he said.

“My head needs to be forward. I need to think about the Marines. I need to think about the mission,” Garrett said yesterday after the sentencing. “Not what is going to happen here — is my wife OK, or is she going to be able to pay bills … or is he going to come to my house and threaten my wife because she’s the one who turned him in?”

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/07/19/news/story09.html

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Schofield Soldier’s Family Questions Military PTSD Treatment

KITV.com

Schofield Soldier’s Family Questions Military PTSD Treatment

Tripler Officials Defend Patient Policy

Brent Suyama, Managing Editor TheHawaiiChannel.com

POSTED: 8:39 pm HST July 11, 2008

TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Hawaii — An Alabama woman says her son, a Schofield Barracks soldier, is slipping through the cracks after a stand-off with Honolulu police last month.

The Army responded on Friday by saying it requires soldiers to undergo Post Traumatic Stress Disorder screenings throughout the deployment cycle. After the mandatory screenings it falls on the soldier and the community to reach out to the Army for help.

Last month, Sgt. Jesse Kerry barricaded himself in his Royal Kunia townhouse. After an 18-hour standoff with Honolulu police, the 23-year-old surrendered.

During the ordeal Kerry’s mother, Stephanie, was home in Alabama.

“Anybody with PTSD is tormented. It is something they can’t get out, they can’t drink it out, they can’t drug it out, and they feel ultimately, many of them, the only way get rid of this pain and this torment is to kill themselves,” Stephanie Kerry said.

Jesse Kerry was admitted to Triple Army Medical Center, where he underwent treatment.

Stephanie Kerry is questioning the Army after she was informed her son would be discharged this week.

“You’re going to release this soldier after a 16-hour standoff brought him to your hospital and you are going to release him 10 days later after studying his personality traits,” Stephanie Kerry said.

The Army can not comment on Sgt. Kerry’s case.

“A rather large treatment team will assess the patient and the patient is an active member of developing their treatment plan,” Col. CJ Diebold said about PTSD patients in general.

The Army defended its procedures for admitting and releasing patients.

“The purpose of inpatient treatment is to stabilize, is to assess and stabilize. The work of therapy and treatment goes on in an outpatient basis,” Diebold said.

Dr. Kenneth Hirsch of Veterans Affairs at Tripler said it is the individual’s choice to maintain outpatient treatment. The major obstacle the military faces in treating patients with PTSD is the stigma surrounding mental illness.

“We have to reduce stigma. We have to make it easy not only for people to access the care, but easy to make the decision that I will get care,” Hirsch said.

Symptoms of PTSD include problems with eating, concentrating and becoming easily irritable.

The Army hopes is to help soldiers understand the disorder so they can get the proper care they deserve.

Source: http://www.kitv.com/print/16860884/detail.html

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Tripler plans to release soldier who held off Hawaii police in standoff

Posted on: Wednesday, July 9, 2008

SOLDIER’S FAMILY

Tripler plans to release soldier who held off Hawaii police in standoff

By Rob Perez
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Schofield Barracks soldier who was hospitalized last week after threatening suicide during an 18-hour standoff with police is scheduled to be released as soon as tomorrow despite concerns from his family that he is not ready.

Stephanie Kerry, the mother of Sgt. Jesse Kerry, said her son still is having trouble dealing with the traumatic effects from deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq and questioned whether the military has provided adequate treatment for him and many other soldiers in similar situations.

“I think Jesse and other soldiers like him are battling things that require more time,” she said. “This is extremely serious, and people need to realize that.”

A spokeswoman for Tripler Army Medical Center, where Kerry was taken for psychiatric evaluation after the June 30 standoff in Waipahu, said federal law prohibited her from commenting on individual cases. But the hospital issued a general statement: “Every patient is assessed individually. Based upon clinical evaluation, a personalized treatment plan is given, which works toward a discharge date.”

In a phone interview from her Valley, Ala., home yesterday, Stephanie Kerry said she was told by her son’s physician Monday that the soldier probably would be released tomorrow.

She said that when she expressed concern that her son wasn’t ready to be released, the doctor told her the military can’t hold someone for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation for more than 72 hours.

Stephanie Kerry said her son told her previously that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that the effects are so serious that she believes he needs more treatment. She wasn’t sure whether he would be able to stay at Tripler beyond tomorrow, even if he asked to do so.

Since Jesse Kerry’s 2004-05 tour in Afghanistan and a 2006-07 deployment to Iraq, where he witnessed two friends in his convoy killed by a roadside bomb, the 23-year-old married man and father of a son has been drinking more and battling depression and nightmares, his mother said.

APPARENT SUICIDE TRY

About two weeks before the standoff, which forced the evacuation of nearby homes in a Royal Kunia townhouse complex, police were called to Kerry’s home because of a domestic dispute, several neighbors said as the standoff unfolded. His wife was escorted away, and the woman and son later left for the Mainland, the neighbors said.

When Kerry surrendered to police and the standoff ended, he had cuts on both wrists.

Stephanie Kerry said her son started having psychological problems after his deployment to Afghanistan and had a serious incident in May 2006 that prompted his command to “red flag” his file.

Yet he was deployed to Iraq a few months later, she said.

An Army spokeswoman said she could not comment on Kerry’s case because of privacy laws. But the spokeswoman said that, speaking generally, a soldier’s file can be flagged for many reasons ranging from obesity to misconduct.

Stephanie Kerry said she didn’t know whether her son was formally diagnosed with PTSD, but he told her he had the disorder and was prescribed sleep medication and an anti-depressant. She said her son didn’t seem to be getting the care he needed, and his current treatment didn’t appear to reflect the seriousness of PTSD and what happened last week.

“It seems as though he’s just being fast-tracked” out of the hospital, she said.

When Kerry’s father, Freelon, asked his son in a phone conversation Monday night whether he was doing OK, the soldier replied, “Not really,” Stephanie Kerry said. After a short pause, she said, her son added, “Yeah, I’m OK.”

INVISIBLE WOUNDS

About 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of PTSD or major depression, according to a study released in April by the RAND Corp., a nonprofit research organization.

Returning soldiers who have trouble dealing with the stresses of war have access to a variety of services, ranging from outpatient programs to intensive in-patient treatment. But critics nationally say the military’s mental health network falls far short of what is needed, partly because of a shortage of personnel. Also, many troops simply don’t seek treatment.

A specialist with the nonprofit Helping Hands Hawai’i said the symptoms Kerry’s mother described were similar to what many other soldiers have described.

“The battle does not end on the battlefield,” said William “Clay” Park, a Helping Hands case manager and Vietnam war veteran. “It comes home with you. A lot of these guys self-medicate themselves with alcohol or drugs.”

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Source: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Jul/09/ln/hawaii807090406.html

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Veteran kills family and self in Mililani

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
A woman identified herself to Honolulu police yesterday as a relative of one of the residents at 95-1042 Moohele St. in Mililani Mauka upon arrival at the scene with another relative, right. According to HPD, a man killed his wife and son before hanging himself there.

Family killed in Mililani

» Police say Michael James murdered his wife and son, then killed himself
» It is the third murder-suicide on Oahu in less than 3 months

STORY SUMMARY »

A Mililani Mauka man killed his wife and their son Tuesday before taking his own life, the third murder-suicide on Oahu this year.

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Police say it appears Farrington High School teacher Grineline James and son Michael Jr. were killed at the hands of Michael A. James, who committed suicide yesterday at the home at 95-1042 Moohele St.

Neighbors and Grineline James’ co-workers expressed shock and confusion over the violent end to a nice, quiet family.

Catherine Payne, principal of Farrington High School, praised her employee as a dedicated teacher, one of the best at the school.

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“It’s very, very tragic. It’s beyond my comprehension that something like that could happen. She was such a good person and a wonderful mother to her son,” Payne said.

Honolulu police expressed frustration at the third domestic murder-suicide in Honolulu in less than three months. More than half of the 11 homicides on Oahu this year involve domestic violence.

“If you’ve got domestic violence going on in your family, do something about it,” said Honolulu Police Department Maj. Frank Fujii. “I’m sure that all the victims that died as the result of domestic violence, none of them thought that it was going to happen to them.”

ROB SHIKINA AND ROSEMARIE BERNARDO

FULL STORY »

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PHOTOS BY DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Police lifted up the crime scene tape yesterday to let in a neighbor who lives next door to a house where a double murder-suicide occured in Mililani Mauka. The house, shown on the left side of the picture, is at the corner of Moohele and Ukuwai streets. Below, police gathered in front of the house.

By Rob Shikina
and Rosemarie Bernardo
rshikina@starbulletin.com
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

Three family members were found dead in a Mililani Mauka home yesterday in a double murder and suicide.

Police made the grisly discovery yesterday about noon after a postal worker found a suspicious note in the mailbox and reported it to a supervisor, who called police.

Video: Family of 3 Found Dead in Mililani Police found a family of three dead in a Mililani home after a woman mail carrier found a note in the family’s mailbox. In partnership with KITV.com

Arriving officers found the front door at 95-1042 Moohele St. unlocked. Inside they found more notes directing them to the dead family on the second floor: a 43-year-old man, a 39-year-old woman and a boy, 7.

Neighbors identified the man as Michael A. James, a retired veteran who worked from home selling insurance. His son was Michael, and his wife was Grineline James, a Farrington High School teacher.

An online listing said James worked for Benchmark Life Insurance & Annuity Consulting Group from that address.

Honolulu Police Department Maj. Frank Fujii said police believe James killed his wife and son Tuesday evening and committed suicide yesterday morning.

Police found the woman and child in a bed covered with a sheet, while James was found hanged in a home office. He left a suicide note saying he killed his wife and son, police said.

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PHOTOS BY DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Police gathered in front of the house.

Fujii declined to describe the injuries but ruled out gunshot wounds.
Yesterday’s discovery disturbed the quiet, new neighborhood as police taped off one end of Moohele Street until shortly after 6:15 p.m. The house where the killings occurred is at the corner of Moohele and Ukuwai streets. On the driveway a basketball hoop stood next to a white Hyundai sedan.

Video: Neighbors Shocked Over Mililani Deaths Many neighbors say that the neighborhood is very quiet and are surprised at what had happened in the James’ family home. In partnership with KITV.com

Mark Pacpaco, 31, who lives directly behind there on Moohele Place, said the family moved there about 18 months ago. He talked with James about landscaping and said James was a retired veteran.

“The guy always had a smiling face,” he said. “He seemed like a real nice guy.”

Donna Carter, who lives across the street, said James introduced his family when she moved in last December.

“They were a nice family,” she said. “Mike was really friendly. He was the first one to come and welcome us.”

“He loved his son,” she said, adding that he enjoyed playing basketball with his son.

The family was quiet and kept to themselves, she said.

“I’m just very upset,” she said. “It’s a shame. You hate to see a family destroyed like that.”

Catherine Payne, principal of Farrington High School, said Grineline James had worked at Farrington since January 2003.

“She was a magnificent teacher, very much loved by her students and her colleagues,” Payne said. “We’re just devastated by her loss.”

Payne described her as a “quiet but strong person,” adding she was “very kind and thoughtful.”

“She was one of the best teachers in the school. Every student in her class learned from her,” she said.

Grineline James told co-workers that she would be away next week to attend the funeral of her husband’s brother.

Police Chief Boisse Correa visited the house briefly yesterday evening and left without speaking to reporters. Relatives arrived in a blue van and spoke briefly with police. One woman raised her hand to her mouth during the conversation.

Fujii said the double murder is the 10th and 11th homicides this year. More than half of them are related to domestic violence.

MURDER-SUICIDES

The other murder-suicide cases on Oahu this year:

» May 26: Police responded at 6:39 p.m. to a dropped 911 call at 99-801 Halawa Heights Road. The officers heard nothing but a disconnected phone, entered the apartment and found 60-year-old Eliseo Dumlao Jr. and 45-year-old Marissa Dumlao shot dead. Police found a 9 mm handgun on the husband’s chest and said he shot his wife before killing himself. Marissa Dumlao left behind an 18-year-old daughter.

» April 25: At 11:51 p.m., neighbors of 91-1635 Kaukolu St. heard gunshots coming from the home. Police found 38-year-old Della Dikito shot dead in the bathroom. Her husband, 39-year-old Domingo Dikito, was found in the garage, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The couple left behind three daughters – ages 8, 13 and 15 – and an 18-year-old son.

OTHER DEATHS
Other homicide cases on Oahu related to domestic violence this year:

» Jan. 9: Jenny Hartsock, 39, was stabbed multiple times allegedly by her 40-year-old husband Roy William Hartsock outside their apartment at 757 Gulick Ave. in Kalihi.

» Jan. 16: Janel Tupuola, 30, was beaten to death, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, 29-year-old Alapeti Siuanu Tunoa Jr. Police said Tunoa used the butt of a shotgun and beat Tupuola in the middle of a street in front of horrified spectators. The couple had a 2-year-old daughter.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/07/03/news/story01.html

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Autopsy reveal cause of death in veteran-family murder-suicide

Starbulletin.com

Posted on: Thursday, July 3, 2008 4:47 PM HST

Autopsies reveal cause of death in murder-suicide

Star-Bulletin Staff
citydesk@starbulletin.com

Michael Anthony James strangled his wife and drowned his 7-year-old son before hanging himself in the family’s Mililani Mauka home this week, autopsies revealed today.

The city’s medical examiner said Michael Anthony James, Jr., had drowned. Police sources indicated that the father drowned his son in the bathtub and that Grineline D. James, 39, died by strangulation at the hands of her husband.

Both deaths were classified as homicides, the medical examiner said today.

Michael Anthony James, 43, died by asphyxia due to hanging, a suicide. He was pronounced dead at 1:07 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said before he killed himself he placed the bodies of his wife and son on a bed and covered them with a sheet.

The medical examiner’s office withheld information about when each person died, citing an ongoing investigation. Police had said the mother and child died Tuesday night and James died Wednesday morning.

A toxicology report is pending.

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Soldier peacefully ends standoff with police

HonoluluAdvertiser.com

July 1, 2008

Man gives up peacefully in Waipahu

By Dave Dondoneau
and David Waite

ROYAL KUNIA – A standoff involving a Schofield Barracks soldier ended peacefully at about 10:40 a.m. today when the man walked out of his Royal Kunia townhouse with his hands up and surrendered to police.

Neighbors said they were told the soldier had returned earlier this year from Iraq and was diagnosed recently with post traumatic stress disorder.

Police began evacuating residents of one area of the Villas at Royal Kunia at about 4 p.m. yesterday after becoming concerned that the soldier might be a threat to himself or others.

The soldier, who lives in unit 20 of the townhouse complex at 94-976 Hanauna St., was described by neighbors as tall and thin. They said they often saw him in front of his unit cooking food on an outdoor grill with friends.

Neighbors said the man’s wife left with the couple’s two children yesterday to return to the Mainland. They said police were called to the home about two weeks ago and escorted the wife from the home following a domestic argument.

Neighbors Jade and Emery Black were evacuated yesterday at about 6 p.m. They said they had heard “the guy had two guns.”

Jade Black watched the police operation from across the street until midnight and then went to stay with friends.

The Blacks returned this morning to find the situation had not been resolved.

Andy Reckers and wife, Hannah, went to walk their dog – adopted from the Hawaiian Humane Society six days ago – and saw police surrounding the townhouse complex when they returned.

They also stayed overnight with friends hoping to return to their home this morning.

Levi Reulecke and his wife, Ericka, who live diagonally across in the same cluster from the unit in question, said police came to their home about 8:15 last night and told them to leave.

They said they were surprised by all of the commotion and that their neighbor in question “seemed like a normal guy – until yesterday.”

About 10:15 a.m. this morning, police were allowing some of the residents who were evacuated earlier to return to get some of their belongings and to retrieve their cars.

The west-bound lanes of Anonui Street, which connects with Hanauna Street, were open but the east-bound lanes of Anonui remained closed to traffic.

Police had set up shade tents and brought in an air-conditioned trailer to allow SWAT team members to take a break from the heat.

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Deceptive recruiting methods damage the military

OUR OPINION

Deceptive recruiting methods damage the
military

THE ISSUE

A Navy recruiter has been accused of making false promises to enlist

Misleading young men and women in order to sign them up for military service makes no sense for anyone involved, including the tricky recruiter.

When enlistees discover they have been deceived, they aren’t likely to view their stints favorably, the military gains service members who are disgruntled and the recruiters — though possibly reaching their enlistment quotas — get bad reputations that can prevent them from doing their jobs effectively. In addition, the military and
recruiters in general are tainted by the bad practices of a few.

Parents and young people as well as older people considering enrolling in the armed forces should make sure they know in detail what’s ahead before they agree to enlist. While a career in the military can provide an education, a range of opportunities and other benefits, potential recruits need to enter the services with eyes wide open.

Two recent Kapolei High School graduates and their families have found that a recruiter’s promises of college benefits weren’t exactly as billed. They were told that the Navy would pay for them to go to college for four years before having to serve four years, but it turned out the sequence was reversed; they were to serve on full-time active duty before earning any college benefits.

The mother of one of the graduates told the Star-Bulletin’s Susan Essoyan she was skeptical of the promises and went with her son to assure herself everything was in order and to verify the terms of enlistment. But they turned out to be otherwise.

The recruiter, Petty Officer 1st Class Jimmy Pecadeso, apparently had been the source of previous problems.

The school’s principal said he had banned Pecadeso from recruiting on campus for being “overly aggressive” and “doing things that appear not to be ethical.” The recruiter’s supervisor was advised of problems several times, the principal said.

Recruiters can meet with students at the school only if parents have given permission and if a counselor is present. However, the resourceful recruiter managed to track down one of the teenagers off campus.

Granted, the teenagers should have known what they were doing, but it appears they were rushed into a decision without the benefit of talking with their families.

A 2006 government study showed that while hard-sell tactics by recruiters were rare, claims of recruiter misconduct were increasing and, because the military did not track all allegations, the problems likely were underestimated.  The study also showed that the majority of recruiters, who are involuntarily assigned the duty, are dissatisfied with the task, which has become increasingly difficult because of the war in Iraq.

Source: http://starbulletin.com/2008/06/17/editorial/editorial01.html

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Teens say recruiter duped them

June 17, 2008

Teens say recruiter duped them

Grads claim they were told they could go to college before serving

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The Navy said it is investigating a Honolulu-based recruiter after two Kapolei High School graduates said they were scammed into joining the service.

Cory Miyasato and Joseph Mauga Jr. said Navy recruiter Petty Officer 1st Class Jimmy Pecadeso promised them they would be able to get a free, four-year college education before going off to sea.

Instead, the two 18-year-olds said they found out they would be going off to boot camp and then active duty.

Their families made a complaint to the Navy.

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David McKee, a spokesman for Navy Recruiting Station Los Angeles, which includes Hawai’i, said, “We’ve done the preliminary inquiry, and we’ve initiated a formal investigation.”

McKee said Miyasato and Mauga are no longer obligated to fulfill a Navy contract and enter boot camp.

“They’ve asked to be removed from the delayed entry program, and we’ve honored that request,” McKee said.

McKee said he would have to check whether Pecadeso was temporarily relieved of duties, or if he continues to work as a recruiter.

A person who answered the phone at the Kapolei Navy recruiting station said Pecadeso wouldn’t be able to comment, and referred any questions to McKee.

The Navy said it has recruiting offices in Kapolei, ‘Aiea, Honolulu and Kane’ohe.

McKee said Miyasato and Mauga were to go into the Navy under the “delayed entry” program, but that the delay in reporting for boot camp ranges from about a month to, rarely, as long as a year.

McKee said he believes the general integrity of Navy recruiters to be high.

The Los Angeles recruiting office encompasses 54 recruiting stations in California, Hawai’i, Guam, South Korea and Japan, McKee said.

For June, the total goal for the stations is 210 recruits, 30 of whom are expected to come from Hawai’i, Guam, South Korea and Japan, McKee said.

Source: Honoluluadvertiser.com

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Deception lures Kapolei students to join Navy

Navy recruiter’s false promises allegedly snare Kapolei students

Petty Officer 1st Class Jimmy Pecadeso’s tactics have drawn previous complaints

By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

Enlist in the Navy now, the recruiter told Cory Miyasato and Joseph Mauga Jr., and get a free, four-year college education before going off to sea.

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Joseph Mauga Jr., right, and his friend, Cory Miyasato, were allegedly railroaded into enlisting in the U.S. Navy just before graduating from Kapolei High School. The recruiter is accused of promising they could get a free education from the Navy before seeing active duty.

The two Kapolei High School seniors thought they could believe the talkative Navy recruiter in the spotless white uniform. Mauga wanted to become a naval officer after college. His father is a 20-year Navy veteran and 11 of his uncles have served in the military.

Miyasato, an honor student, also was intrigued. “The full-ride scholarship really interested me,” he said. “I am a very trusting person. I thought the U.S. government would be truthful to me.”

With the military under pressure to keep producing fresh troops for an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq, a few recruiters stretch the truth – or worse – to meet their quotas. Mauga and Miyasato, both 18, say they found that out the hard way.

It wasn’t until after the pair enlisted in the Navy’s Delayed Entry Program on May 29 that they discovered they would be going off to boot camp and then full-time active duty, scrubbing and painting ships, before earning any college benefits. And it wasn’t until their irate parents raised a ruckus that they learned that the recruiter who lured them into enlisting had already run into trouble for his heavy-handed tactics with students.

Kapolei High School Principal Alvin Nagasako told the Star-Bulletin that Petty Officer 1st Class Jimmy Pecadeso had been banned from recruiting on campus for being “overly aggressive” and “doing things that appear not to be ethical. It was told to his supervisor by our counselor not once but multiple times,” Nagasako said.

Recruiters are allowed to meet with students at the school only with parental permission and if a counselor is present. In this case, the recruiter tracked down Miyasato off campus after getting his cell-phone number from another student. The seniors were about to graduate from Kapolei High and had already enrolled at local colleges.

Cory’s mother, Jayne Arasaki, was skeptical, so she went along on one visit to the recruiting station and heard the same promise from Pecadeso. “He did lie to me,” she said. “He said the Navy would pay for four years of college and then Cory would be obligated to serve four years.”

Pecadeso did not return a call from the Star-Bulletin, and his supervisor, Petty Officer 1st Class Latasha Kahana, said they were not authorized to speak to the press. But the spokesman for the Navy Recruiting Station Los Angeles, which includes Hawaii, said the case would be investigated.

“Nobody should be railroaded into buying a car, a house, or joining the military under false pretenses by being misled,” said Petty Officer 1st Class David McKee, public affairs officer for the district.

“When it comes out that a recruiter has misled an applicant, it reflects poorly on all recruiters and the Navy and the military,” he said. “The military does take this seriously. The family can be assured that the recruiter is going to be investigated.”

Concern over recruiter tactics prompted a study by the General Accounting Office in 2006 that found claims of recruiter misconduct were on an upswing, although they remained rare. It noted that the military services do not track all allegations and the data likely underestimates the problem.

There were 2,456 claims of recruiter “irregularities” among 22,000 recruiters and nearly 318,000 new enlistees in 2006, according to more recent data from the U.S. State Department. Most involved “concealment, falsification or undue influence.” About one in five claims was substantiated.

“I feel my son was railroaded into enlisting for active duty with the Navy,” Arasaki said. “The whole process took less than a week. Cory was enticed with money, prestige as an officer, college and other military benefits.”

At 5 p.m. the day after she met Pecadeso, the recruiter picked up both boys and whisked them off to spend the night at an airport hotel, courtesy of the Navy, saying they needed to get an early start on medical testing and security clearance at the Military Entrance Processing Station at Pearl Harbor. He promised to have them back by noon.

It was nearly 24 hours before the brought them back, late for graduation practice at 4 p.m. Their worried mothers had been trying to reach them by phone, but their cell phones were confiscated on base as a security measure.

“They were just going to see what they had to offer,” Gloria Mauga said. “I did not know my child was going to come back enlisted. They couldn’t even call to ask us advice. It’s like they kidnapped our sons.”

Their contracts noted that they were eligible for the Navy College Fund, and the boys say they thought they were signing up to go to school full time.

At first, the Maugas thought Joseph might have signed up for ROTC, but when they reviewed the contract, they realized he would be entering as an enlisted man at the lowest level. It was 10 p.m., but they immediately jumped up to call Pecadeso on his cell phone to cancel it.

“He said, ‘Just don’t have him show up (for his ship date) at the end of December, we’ll consider it canceled,'” Joseph Mauga Sr. recalled.

Instead, the families are working to get immediate discharges and written assurances that the boys’ careers will not be affected. McKee, the Navy spokesman, said the two young men can opt out with no penalty.

“At any point in the Delayed Entry Program, if a person decides that they do not want to join the military, they’re not obligated,” he said. “We discourage people from just walking away from the process. But before you go to basic training, you are under no obligation to continue.”

McKee apologized for any miscommunication, and noted that recruiters may feel time pressure as their monthly deadlines approach. Hawaii recruiters are expected to produce 30 new enlistees for the Navy this month.

“Not everyone who becomes a recruiter is a talented communicator,” McKee added. “Some are used to working in an engine room. … Please don’t write the military off completely.”

Pecadeso, who has been a recruiter since 2005, joined the military in 1998 and is trained in surface warfare as a gas system turbine technician-electrician.

He told Mauga and Miyasato they could earn higher pay if they recruited a few friends before going off to basic training. Navy regulations do permit bumping a recruit up to the E-3 level from E-1, a $240 difference per month, if they recruit two or more others.

But at this point, neither boy is interested in trying to sign up anyone else.

“Right now, all I want to do is get out of the military and continue my schooling by going to Leeward Community College,” Miyasato said.

BY THE NUMBERS
Recruiting for the U.S. Military, 2006
Number of recruiters: 22,000
Number of recruits: 318,000
Claims of misconduct: 2,456
Claims substantiated: 518

Source: “Military Recruiting and Recruiter Irregularities,” U.S. Department of State

REPORTING MISCONDUCT
To report Navy recruiter misconduct in Hawaii, contact the recruiter’s supervisor or district headquarters:

Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles
5051 Rodeo Road
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Tel. (800) 252-1588

For the Army, Air Force or Marines, contact the recruiting district headquarters for that branch of service.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/06/15/news/story03.html#full

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