Former MPD Officer, Galon Sentenced to 18 Months

By Wendy Osher

Sentencing is scheduled to take place in US District Court in Honolulu. Photo by Wendy Osher.

(Updated: 3:54 p.m. 9/12/11)

A former Maui police officer was sentenced today to a total of 18 months in prison for two separate counts of depriving rights under the color of law.

The sentenced was handed down by Judge Richard L. Puglisi against Kristopher Galon.  Details of the case are provided below.

(Posted: 8 a.m. 9/12/11)

Sentencing is scheduled for today in a case involving a former Maui Police officer who was accused stealing money from a motorist, and sexually assaulting a woman in separate incidents while in uniform.

Kristopher Galon faces up to 12 months of in prison, a $100,000 fine, and up to one year of supervised release when he is sentenced today in the courtroom of Judge Richard L. Puglisi in Honolulu.

Galon entered into a plea agreement in US District Court in May, to information charging him with the two separate counts of depriving rights under the color of law.

One of the charges stem from a November 2007 incident, in which Galon, acting in his then-capacity of a Maui County Police Officer, conducted a traffic stop for an alleged traffic violation.

According to court documents, the motorist, who was a citizen of Honduras, was given a verbal warning not to drive since he was in the US illegally.  During a pat-down search, court records indicate that Galon recovered and kept $1,550 in cash from the man’s wallet.

Galon was also charged for a separate incident that was reported to have occurred in August of 2008.  According to court documents, Galon sexually assaulted a woman shortly after she was released from the jail at the Lahaina Station.

Court records show Galon had offered the woman a ride, agreed to help her with potential criminal charges pending against her, and induced the woman to engage in a non-consensual sexual encounter with him.

Officer Kristopher Galon received the Maui Police Department’s Silver Medal of Valor in 2004 for saving a driver from a burning vehicle.

Today’s sentencing is scheduled to start at 9 a.m.