Officer honored for probing postal break-ins

WAILUKU - For working with postal inspectors to solve a series of break-ins at post office boxes throughout the island, Maui police Detective Wendell Loo has received a letter of commendation from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The commendation was presented Sept. 16 at a Maui County Police Commission meeting.

Loo was recognized for his work over the past two years to investigate post office box burglaries, including more than 110 break-ins at post offices in Puunene, Haiku, Kihei, Kahului, Wailuku and Paia in the spring of 2008.

A bank debit card stolen in one break-in was used to make purchases, and stolen convenience checks were fraudulently passed as part of the scheme.

According to the commendation letter, William A. Cornelio Jr. and six associates were identified as being responsible for the break-ins.

In addition to facing state charges for multiple counts of second-degree forgery and second-degree theft, Cornelio has been held in federal custody.

According to federal court records, Cornelio is serving a 7-year prison term after he was sentenced Aug. 25 in two cases. In one case, he pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of an access device and aggravated identity theft for using the stolen debit card at various stores from June 12 to 16, 2008. He was ordered to pay $1,244 in restitution to First Hawaiian Bank, which had issued the card.

In another case in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, Cornelio pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge stemmed from the discovery in August 2006 of a parcel containing 207.19 grams, or 7.3 ounces, of methamphetamine that was mailed from San Diego to Cornelio's address in Kahului, according to court records.

The parcel was addressed to Cornelio's minor daughter. When FBI agents on Maui interviewed Cornelio, he said he had paid $1,000 an ounce for the methamphetamine and was getting the drug "so he could make some extra money," according to an affidavit to support the charge.

State charges against Cornelio are pending in 2nd Circuit Court.

Some of the other defendants implicated in the post office break-ins have been sentenced.

Loo said that detectives Mark Kaaa and Clyde Holokai also worked on the investigation into the post office break-ins. "It was a team effort," Loo said.

In the commendation, Loo also was credited for helping postal inspectors identify a man responsible for vandalism and theft of gasoline from postal vehicles at the Kula Post Office last spring.