WAILUKU, Maui — An 18-year-old man who stood by while two friends torched a golf cart, touching off a fire that destroyed the Pukalani Country Club building, was sentenced yesterday to a year of probation and 300 hours of community service.

Richard Acorda, 18, of Pukalani, was a senior at King Kekaulike High School at the time of the fire, which occurred in the early morning hours of April 14. The blaze burned the golf course clubhouse and its popular restaurant, causing more than $1 million in damage and putting 32 employees out of work.

A dozen or so of those workers attended yesterday's hearing, their anger and hurt still evident. Those who lost their jobs as a result of the fire also lost their health and retirement benefits, and some have been able to find only part-time work, according to pro shop employee Wesley Anderson, who read a letter on behalf of the displaced workers. Others remain on unemployment and one has moved to the Big Island to find a job.

"The employees feel that the emotional impact of this unwarranted crime has left them feeling degraded and violated, affecting their self-worth and dignity," Anderson said.

Another employee, retired police officer Solomon Lee, said that although the three defendants are young, they should be considered as nothing less than criminals. "This crime has a sense of hate and contempt not only for people and property but for the law itself," he said.

Lee noted that although Acorda wasn't directly involved in lighting the fire, "he had the opportunity to walk away at any time, he had the opportunity after the crime was committed to call police."

The Pukalani Country Club golf course and driving range remain open, but general manager Yasuo Nishida said the business continues to suffer daily losses and that the fire damage, which included 35 golf carts valued at $147,000, is still being tallied. The 160-acre golf course, privately owned but open for public play, was built in 1970. It is owned by KG Holdings LLC, headed by Honolulu developer Bert A. Kobayashi.

"We will never know how much business we have lost due to the shut down of the restaurant that is currently forecast to well exceed one year. By the time we reopen, these tour companies or customers will very likely have found other places or restaurants to patronize," Nishida said in a letter to the court.

He called the fire a "life-altering event" for employees. "Overall, the act of three men in the middle of the night, on private property, for the amusement of themselves has caused a change in the lives of hundreds of people in the immediate community ... and has continuing daily effects on the employees and owners of the business. I do not know how these three men could fully compensate for the damage and destruction that they willfully created. The community of Maui cannot afford to let this act be taken lightly," Nishida wrote.

According to authorities, Acorda accompanied friends Maxwell Webster and Dayton Valoroso, who were also 18 at the time of the arson, to the Pukalani Country Club apparently with the intent to joyride in golf carts. When they couldn't get the carts to start, Webster and Valoroso poured gasoline on a cart and set it ablaze. The fire spread to the clubhouse.

The arson was documented by a surveillance camera that led police to the three suspects.

Acorda earlier pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal property damage, a misdemeanor, while Valoroso and Webster pleaded no contest to first-degree criminal property damage, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Valoroso and Webster were to have been sentenced yesterday, but Maui Circuit Judge Joel August rescheduled their hearings to Jan. 26 to give them more time to come up with the $10,000 each owes as his share of restitution for the country club's insurance deductible and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Acorda paid his $7,000 share yesterday.

Defense attorney David Sereno noted that Acorda cooperated with police and had never been in trouble before. He said Acorda, who graduated from high school with a 3.5 grade-point average and is now working and attending Maui Community College, was guilty of making "bad choices," and that the "one big lesson" he had learned from the case is "you choose your friends and you'd better choose them carefully."

August agreed Acorda was "a model citizen" before the fire and is unlikely to commit further crimes. The judge deferred the defendant's plea in the case, meaning the crime will be erased from Acorda's record if he successfully completes probation.

Before delivering the sentence, August reminded Acorda that his "error of judgment has had terrible, terrible effects on many, many people throughout the community."

After the hearing, Marise DePonte, whose family started the Pukalani Country Club restaurant in 1980, said she wasn't ready to comment on the punishment. Nearby, her mother Ruth, stood in tears. Even though the family had sold the business to the country club owners, they continued to work at the local-style restaurant, which had a loyal clientele and was a meeting place and traditional holiday stop for many residents.

"It not only affected us, but everyone who came in with their families to eat and to have time together," she said.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.