A man accused of fatally shooting a deputy sheriff wasn't sent to prison on drug and drunken-driving charges last year as prosecutors requested, but got a chance to complete a drug rehabilitation program instead.

John Koa Lorenzo Jr. was supposed to be sentenced in October, but Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto granted defense lawyer requests to postpone the sentencing several times after Lorenzo's attorney said his client wanted to first complete a drug rehabilitation program, according to the court file.

Lorenzo, also known as Patrick Lorenzo, 32, chose not to challenge the prosecution's drug case and pleaded no contest to drug and drunken-driving charges in July of last year.

City prosecutors sought a maximum 20-year term for the case, which usually would carry a maximum 10-year sentence, because of Lorenzo's prior criminal history, which included felony drug convictions in the 1990s.

Meanwhile yesterday, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said federal prosecutors would have jurisdiction to prosecute Lorenzo and could seek the death penalty for the slaying of Deputy Daniel Browne-Sanchez, under the Hobbs Act.

The law gives federal authorities jurisdiction over violent crimes committed during a robbery that affects interstate commerce. Kubo said the law would apply because the Kapi'olani bar where Saturday morning's shooting happened purchases goods from out of state.

Kubo said his office at this point is only monitoring the case and the state currently has jurisdiction over Lorenzo.

"We're not planning to intervene at this point," he said, but he did not rule out the possibility.

Jim Fulton, spokesman for the city prosecutor's office, declined to comment on who would end up prosecuting Lorenzo.

The use of a silencer, which authorities allege in this case, also provides federal prosecutors with the authority to prosecute. Kubo said the silencer would lead to mandatory federal prison terms, but not the death penalty.

BRAZEN ROBBERY

Lorenzo is accused in a brazen armed robbery that's detailed in an affidavit filed yesterday in support of the arrest warrant.

The affidavit states that Lorenzo entered the kitchen of Osake Sushi Bar and Lounge at 1700 Kapi'olani Blvd. through a back entrance at 3:12 a.m. Saturday.

He wore a red ski mask and carried a black .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol with a silencer affixed to the barrel, the affidavit said. He also was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, it said.

Lorenzo approached two cooks, pointed the firearm at them and ordered them out of the kitchen. He allegedly pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of one man's head and led them into the bar area of the restaurant.

Upon entering the bar area, Lorenzo pointed the handgun at those gathered, about 10 people, and fired several shots into the air, ordering everyone to get down, the affidavit said.

He then screamed, "I want the money," the affidavit said.

Seeing that one man was slow to comply, he pointed the pistol directly at the man's head and fired a shot. The witness told police the bullet missed him, but he could "hear the bullet as it passed by his head," the court record shows.

Next, the suspect fired his gun at Browne-Sanchez's feet.

The deputy rushed toward the armed robber, who shot several times, striking the deputy in the chest, neck and arm.

Despite being hit three times, Browne-Sanchez was able to tackle Lorenzo to the ground and a struggle for the handgun began, the affidavit said.

Other people in the bar jumped in and wrestled the gun away from Lorenzo.

EIGHT SHOTS FIRED

Browne-Sanchez died from the gunshot wound to the chest, the office of the city medical examiner said yesterday.

Lorenzo fired a total of eight shots during the botched robbery, police said.

Fingerprints taken from the pistol matched those taken from Lorenzo during a Feb. 16, 1995, arrest on suspicion of promoting dangerous drugs, the affidavit said.

Lorenzo has no history of violent criminal offenses, according to parole and court records.

Yesterday, Lorenzo was charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of first-degree robbery, one count of second-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree attempted murder, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of use of a prohibited firearm.

He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, but remains under guard at The Queen's Medical Center, where he is being treated for injuries sustained during the scuffle after Browne-Sanchez was shot, police said.

Browne-Sanchez is the first state deputy sheriff to be shot and killed. He was working at Osake as a bartender's assistant.

Two managing partners of Osake Sushi Bar and Lounge, who also run Skybox Sports Bar and Lounge at the same address, declined comment, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

Two employees at Osake yesterday also declined comment.

A woman at the residence of Lorenzo's mother in Kailua yesterday declined to comment to The Advertiser.

But Lorenzo's mother, Lei Colucci, told TV station KHON that she had spoken with Lorenzo just hours before the shooting.

"Friday evening he called me, and I asked him if he was coming home," Colucci said.

" 'I don't know, Mom. I was going to go out tonight,' " she quoted her son as saying.

"And I said, 'All right. Well, just be safe and stay out of trouble.' He said, 'I will, Mom. Don't worry.' "

In the television report, Colucci said Lorenzo didn't ask her for money during the call.

"He never asked me for money. He would say 'I got bills to pay, Mom, but I'm working on it and I'm going to work hard so I can pay off my bills.' "

FREE ON BAIL

According to his court file, Lorenzo was free on $25,000 bail at the time of the shooting.

The latest postponement in the drug case from last year came on Jan. 24 when Sakamoto scheduled the sentencing for April 5.

City Deputy Prosecutor Marvin Rampey, who handled Lorenzo's prosecution, could not be reached for comment yesterday, but in his request for the 20-year sentence, Rampey said Lorenzo is a "persistent offender" who should get the 20-year term "for the protection of the public."

"Defendant Lorenzo's criminality has continued despite being sentenced to periods of probation and incarceration in his prior convictions," Rampey said.

Lorenzo's criminal history includes felony drug convictions in four cases from 1994 to 1996, the deputy prosecutor said.

"Defendant Lorenzo has demonstrated a total disregard for the rights of others and has a poor attitude toward the law," Rampey said.

Lorenzo's lawyer, Frank Fernandez, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

SENTENCE POSTPONED

The court files indicate that on Oct. 3, Fernandez told the judge that Lorenzo was undergoing drug treatment. Fernandez asked that sentencing be postponed until his client completed the program this month. Sakamoto put off the sentencing until Dec. 18 and told Lorenzo that he would not get probation and he would go to prison, according to the court files.

The judge postponed the sentencing in December until Jan. 24. At that hearing, Sakamoto overruled objections by the prosecution and pushed the sentencing back to April after he read a letter from the program.

The sentencing is for second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, a crime that normally carries the 10-year term. The other offenses include unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, promoting a detrimental drug and drunken driving.

The offenses stem from a traffic stop the early morning of Feb. 10, 2004. According to the court file, police stopped Lorenzo on Moanalua Freeway after he was seen driving a pickup truck at speeds of 65 mph and 72 mph. Police recovered from Lorenzo marijuana and what appeared to be methamphetamine in Ziploc-type plastic baggies, according to a police affidavit filed in the case.

Also found in a black case in one of the pockets was a glass cylinder commonly used to smoke ice, the affidavit said.

"I stipulate to a factual basis," Lorenzo wrote on his "no contest" plea form.

The court file indicated Lorenzo was with Freedom Recovery Services, a drug, alcohol and mental health rehabilitation outpatient program.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com and Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.