Officer guilty of trafficking stolen SUV

A federal jury deliberated for less than a day before finding Honolulu police officer Landon K. Rudolfo guilty Tuesday of knowingly buying and then selling a stolen vehicle.

A jury found him guilty of trafficking stolen vehicles but not guilty of conspiracy involving the theft of another vehicle.

Rudolfo faces a maximum 10-year prison term at sentencing in July. He remains free on $25,000 signature bond until then.

The Honolulu Police Department said Rudolfo is on leave without pay. He faces having his position at the Police Department terminated by the time he is sentenced because convicted felons are not allowed to own or possess firearms. He will have completed 12 years of service next month.

Rudolfo did not testify in his own trial and left U.S. District Court on Tuesday without comment.

His lawyer Keith Shigetomi called the verdicts “inconsistent.”

A federal grand jury charged Rudolfo in November with trafficking stolen vehicles and conspiring to traffic stolen vehicles. The charges involve Rudolfo’s purchase of a stolen 2000 Toyota 4Runner and the theft of another vehicle.

Rudolfo bought the 4Runner for $3,000 in 2011 from his co-worker, now-former Honolulu police officer Roddy Takao Tsunezumi, who is serving a 33-month federal prison term for an unrelated extortion scheme. Tsunezumi testified that Rudolfo knew the 4Runner was stolen because he told Rudolfo it was.

When Rudolfo took possession of the 4Runner, the title indicated it was a black 1998 model, even though the vehicle was silver, and that it had features and options that were not available in 1998, according to evidence presented at trial. The vehicle identification number plate on the dashboard showed signs that it had been tampered with, and all of the VIN stickers were missing.

Rudolfo sold the 4Runner in 2013 for $6,500.

The government says Rudolfo also arranged to have Tsunezumi steal a 2008 Nissan Rogue so the owners, his friends, could make a false theft claim with their insurer. Tsunezumi said Rudolfo handed him the keys to the Nissan while both were on the job at HPD headquarters.

The owners of the Nissan, husband-and-wife state sheriff’s deputies, did not testify in the trial and have not been charged with any crimes.