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Honolulu police officer charged in Kealoha mailbox case gets probation

Nelson Daranciang
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JAMM AQUINO/ JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Honolulu Police Department Sgt. Daniel Sellers left federal court today after being sentenced to probation in connection to the Kealoha mailbox theft conspiracy case.

Honolulu police Sgt. Daniel Sellers will not be going to jail for telling former deputy prosecutor Katherine Kealoha information he discovered in an investigation.

U.S. District Chief Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Sellers this afternoon to one year of probation for misdemeanor unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Seabright also fined Sellers $2,500 and ordered him to perform 80 hours of community service.

The confidential information was about a car that Sellers had eliminated from involvement in the alleged theft of Kealoha’s mailbox. At the time, Sellers was cross-sworn as a federal law enforcement officer and a member of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit that was investigating the alleged mailbox theft.

Kealoha, her husband, retired Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, and three other former CIU members are scheduled to stand trial next month on charges accusing them of staging the mailbox theft and scheming to frame a Kealoha relative for stealing it.

Sellers had been charged with an unlawful search and seizure, lying about it to a federal grand jury and lying to the FBI about watching surveillance video of the alleged mailbox theft. All three are felonies. He pleaded guilty in January to the misdemeanor disclosure charge in a deal with federal prosecutors.

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