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According to reports from TMZ, John Rabago was sentenced on Wednesday, where he got a scolding from U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi, who told the ex-cop, “You took from him his only possession: his dignity as a human being.”
Rabago along with another ex-officer, Reginald Ramones, found the homeless man inside the stall of a public restroom after responding to a nuisance complaint back in 2018. He then proceeded to threaten the homeless man, saying he would beat the crap out of him and stuff his face in a toilet if he didn’t lick the urinal.
Rabago is also accused of stepping on the man’s legs to keep him on his knees until he complied with the demand. Ramones pled guilty to not reporting Rabago’s gross violation of someone’s civil rights. He is set to be sentenced next week.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brady said Rabago initially laughed about the incident before later denying it even happened. Rabago is also accused of telling Ramones to delete their text messages about the incident.
Brady said, “To be homeless, not knowing where your next meal is going to be, to be forced to lick … a dirty urinal by a uniformed police officer. There’s only one word that comes to mind: hopelessness.”
Rabago’s defense attorney, Megan Kau, added that she and her client expected to get 3 years in prison. After getting 4 years in prison, she said, “I think [the judge] is taking the national environment and making him as an example.”
As for the homeless man’s attorney–who is also suing Honolulu PD and the city–said his client is “pleasantly surprised that the court punished him appropriately.”
