WAILUKU - Former Maui Police Department officer Allison Moore is agreeing to pay back more than $23,000 - most of it to co-workers who donated leave time to her - as part of a plea agreement to settle a criminal case against her.
Moore, 29, entered no-contest pleas Friday to 10 felony charges of second-degree theft and forgery and seven misdemeanor charges of tampering with evidence. The prosecution agreed to dismiss eight other charges, including seven felony drug counts alleging possession of crystal methamphetamine.
Most of the charges cover the period from June 2008 to April 2009 while Moore was employed as a police officer.
The seven second-degree forgery charges involve medical status notes from doctors from August 2008 to April 2009, according to court records. The counts for tampering with evidence involve methamphetamine recovered as evidence and replaced with a fake substance on seven dates from October 2008 to January 2009.
Police employees had held fundraisers and donated leave to Moore after reports that she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in November 2008 and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in February 2009. But some planned fundraisers were canceled without public explanation last summer.
Moore had been on unpaid leave from her job as a vice officer before resigning from the Police Department last Sept. 15, ending her five-year police career.
During a court hearing that lasted about 15 minutes Friday morning, Moore repeatedly replied "yes" as 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen asked if she understood her rights, including the right to have a trial on the charges.
As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution reduced an attempted first-degree theft charge to second-degree theft, said Deputy Prosecutor Lewis Littlepage. In addition to the drug charges, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a charge of prohibited fixing of tickets dating to 2006.
Moore agreed not to ask for a chance to keep the convictions off her record. She also agreed not to seek sentencing under laws calling for probation and drug treatment instead of prison for first-time nonviolent drug or drug-related offenders.
The restitution she agreed to pay includes $16,582 to 22 police employees who donated leave to her, $5,904 to Maui County for leave she received beyond what was allowed based on the doctors' notes and $1,000 to the Maui Police Relief Association. The amounts total $23,486.
When Bissen asked what her plea was to the reduced charge and to each of the 16 other remaining charges, Moore answered "no contest."
Bissen then found her guilty of the charges. Each Class C felony charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Each misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
The prosecution can request a five-year prison sentence for Moore, while the defense can argue for probation when she is sentenced Oct. 29.
Moore had been living in New Mexico before being extradited to Maui to face the charges earlier this year. Since then, after posting a $150,000 bail bond, she has been living and working on Oahu, said her attorney Robert Rivera.
Although court-ordered conditions didn't require it, Moore voluntarily agreed to drug testing as part of her supervision while on release, Rivera said. "She's been in compliance," he said after the hearing Friday.
"It was a satisfactory plea agreement after discussing the matter with all parties involved," Rivera said.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
