LIHU‘E — The Hanapepe physician facing state charges in a 2010 drug dispensing case has been moved to the Mainland to begin serving federal charges for the same offense. Harold C. Spear III, 60, was not in 5th Circuit Court
LIHU‘E — The Hanapepe physician facing state charges in a 2010 drug dispensing case has been moved to the Mainland to begin serving federal charges for the same offense.
Harold C. Spear III, 60, was not in 5th Circuit Court for his hearing on Tuesday, and his status is listed as “in transit” by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He had been held in Honolulu following a 12-year sentencing in U.S. District Court last March with a release date on Oct. 29, 2022.
Spear is facing similar state charges for dispensing controlled medications while not present at his clinic. The case was on hold pending the outcome of the federal case.
Honolulu attorney Nelson W. S. Goo spoke in court via phone as Spear’s appointed attorney, and said the defendant is likely in Nevada awaiting transfer to an unknown federal prison in California.
Hawai‘i Deputy Attorney General Gary K. Senaga also spoke via phone in court. He said it would be difficult to produce Spear now that he is on the Mainland.
Under Hawai‘i statutes, Senaga said an interstate agreement on detainers allows the state to request his return to be arraigned on the new indictment. The law addresses the difficulty in securing a speedy trial of persons already incarcerated in other jurisdictions.
The statute allows a state holding outstanding charges against an individual serving time in another state to be produced via a detainer on untried indictments, felony information or complaints, he said.
Goo said their is urgency to resolve the state matter soon. Once Spear is sent to the federal prison he will serve his time and not be able to be produced in state court, he said.
The attorneys agreed that producing Spear one more time in 5th Circuit would be possible for one-day to dismiss the original case, and have an arraignment in the new one, with a change of plea and sentencing.
Goo said the one-day event would work provided the court would agree to any jail or probation sentence to run concurrent with the federal time.
Judge Kathleen N.A. Watanabe said that the terms would be agreeable to the court. If Spear pleads guilty or no contest the court, he could be sentenced to a five-year jail sentence on each felony charge.
Senaga said that with the agreement to resolve the case in one hearing that it might be possible to expedite the process. He asked for a month to work out the details with federal corrections officials.
Watanabe set a status hearing for Oct. 9, where attorneys would update the court on when Spear could be produced. The Sept. 17 trial call was taken off the calendar.
The original state indictment came in 2009, when Spear was indicted for knowingly dispensing controlled substances as a licensed physician in 2005 and 2006. The state case had been on hold after Spear was brought up on federal charges of illegally dispensing controlled drugs in Alabama.
Spear pleaded guilty to both state charges on March 31, 2010, but was allowed to withdraw his plea this past May during the sentencing phase, which resulted in the attorney general filing a new indictment.
