Former school secretary sentenced to jail for theft

Former Fern Elementary School secretary Williamina Muranaka had until her sentencing hearing on Wednesday to repay the $14,818 she stole from the school.

If she were to pay back the money in full, the state was going to recommend a five-year probation sentence, one year of which she would have to spend behind bars, according to the terms of her plea agreement.

If she were to not pay back all of the money, the state was going to recommend a 10-year prison sentence.

Muranaka, 44, has not paid back any of the money, said Lynn Costales, deputy attorney general.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins, who was not a party to the plea agreement, still sentenced Muranaka to the probation and one-year jail term. He gave her until after the holidays to turn herself in for the jail term. He also ordered her to pay back the money she stole at a rate of at least $30 per month.

Perkins noted that Mura­naka does not have a prior criminal record; that the amount of money she stole is not among the larger amounts involved in similar cases; and that she had five children living with her at the time, three of them minors.

“Most of the money was used for necessities,” Perkins said.

Muranaka used more than half of the money, $8,190, to pay her rent at the Kuhio Homes state public housing complex in Kalihi.

Defense lawyer Susan Arnett said Muranaka came under financial strain and took advantage of the school’s unsound accounting practices.

“Blank checks were signed, and then left around, and various people had access to them, principally (Muranaka),” Arnett said.

Muranaka also committed bribery when she accepted more than $2,000 worth of gift cards from a school vendor for ordering printer toner cartridges at exorbitant prices.

Costales said Muranaka’s theft put the school in the red, preventing the purchase of supplies, the funding of programs and the filling of a job position.

Perkins sentenced former Waipahu High School business manager Warren Harada to 10 years in prison in June in a similar plea agreement with the state when Harada failed to pay back the $499,76 he stole from the school.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority informed Harada in October that he must serve 41⁄2 years of his sentence behind bars before he is eligible for parole.