By JOHN BURNETT By JOHN BURNETT ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer A 50-year-old Hakalau man is going to prison for selling 354 pounds of stolen copper pipes. On Friday, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara sentenced Stanley Richard Bento to five years
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 50-year-old Hakalau man is going to prison for selling 354 pounds of stolen copper pipes.
On Friday, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara sentenced Stanley Richard Bento to five years imprisonment, the maximum sentence, and ordered him to make restitution of $814.20 to victim Wayland Lum. That’s the amount the copper was sold for to Atlas Recycling Center in Hilo. At Friday’s closing price of $3.41 per pound at the Commodities Exchange (COMEX) in New York, the market value of 354 pounds of copper is $1,207.14.
Bento’s girlfriend of 10 years cried as sentence was pronounced, as did his 20-year-old daughter. Bento’s mother and aunt were also in the courtroom.
A jury deliberated less than three hours to convict Bento on June 21 following a five-day trial. Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville said at the time that he believed it’s the “first theft of copper case …. that’s gone to trial in this county.”
Bento’s court-appointed attorney, Kay Iopa argued for probation for her client, stating that Bento “has had some problems when he was younger, but has tried to live a law-abiding life” the past several years. She also said that Bento is the primary caregiver for his mother, who’s in her 80s and for his son, who had recently sustained a hand injury.
Damerville noted that Bento was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006 and was released in 2009. He also argued that due to Bento’s criminal past, which according court records include convictions for felony theft and possessing a dangerous drug, Bento is “not the person to be a caregiver for anyone.”
“He was tweaking in the courtroom during his trial,” Damerville said, noting that Bento tested positive for methamphetamine in a court-ordered drug test following his conviction.
Bento, who was free on supervised release prior to sentencing, told the court that he didn’t know the copper was stolen and that he allowed another individual, Matthew Camp, to use his ID, which was the basis of his defense during trial. The copper is believed by authorities to be part of more than 600 pounds of two-inch copper pipe reported stolen from a Pahoa farm warehouse on Jan. 20, 2011.
The 3-year-old law, which makes theft of a pound or more of copper a felony, requires individuals attempting to sell copper at a scrap or recycling business provide identification and certify that the metal isn’t stolen.
Hara said that one of the factors in his sentencing was “the deterrence of others in committing similar kinds of crimes.” He also called the failed post-trial drug test “fairly disturbing to me and an aggravating factor.”
Damerville said afterward that the “sentence was appropriate given the circumstances and (Bento’s) long criminal history” and he hopes it sends “a message to others out there.” He believes a “fairly large group of methamphetamine users, primarily” are responsible for a rash of copper thefts in Hawaii.
“I’m not saying they’re an organized unit per se, but they know each other, they converse with each other, they talk about opportunities to make money — and one of those opportunities is rippin’ off copper,” Damerville said. “It is a serious problem in the state of Hawaii and it’s an increasingly serious problem over here. And hopefully, if they keep hearing that people are going to prison for these offenses, it will deter them from committing these types of crimes.”
Iopa, who told the court she intends to appeal the sentence, declined to comment afterward, as did Bento’s mother and aunt. Bento’s girlfriend, Laura, who declined to give her last name, said the court “sentenced the wrong man.”
“He’s done wrong in the past, but he’s a good man,” she said. She said that Bento participates in beach clean-ups and delivers vegetables to elderly people. She said he “made the mistake” of trusting someone else with his ID.
Camp pleaded guilty on Dec. 1 to copper theft and was sentenced to six months in jail. He was allowed a deferred acceptance of his plea, meaning the conviction was erased from his record after he completed his sentence.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
