HONOLULU — A former Honolulu police officer was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for failing to report a fellow officer who forced a homeless man to lick a public urinal.
Reginald Ramones resigned from the Honolulu Police Department before pleading guilty last year to knowing that John Rabago, who has also left the force, committed a civil rights violation but didn’t inform authorities about it.
Rabago was sentenced last week to four years in prison.
The two officers had responded to a nuisance complaint in 2018 when they found the homeless man in a stall in a public restroom.
Ramones didn’t intervene when Rabago forced the man to lick the urinal.
Ramones didn’t report Rabago’s actions and deleted text messages between the two officers, U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi said.
But Kobayashi said Ramones later took responsibility and cooperated with prosecutors, which prompted Rabago to plead guilty to depriving the man of his civil rights.
Under sentencing guidelines, Kobayashi could have sentenced Ramones to up to six months of incarceration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brady recommended probation, noting the sentence would be a step toward giving an incentive to officers who feel pressure not to report colleagues for misconduct.
Ramones apologized to the victim and said he’s ashamed and remorseful.
“I failed him,” Ramones said. “I took an oath to serve and protect, which I did not uphold.”