A Kona man sentenced yesterday to 11 months in federal prison for his role in conspiring to sell Native Hawaiian funerary objects and artifacts from Kanupa Cave in Kohala will likely be spending that time at a medically advanced facility.

His attorney, however, believes the sentence should have been lighter — perhaps just probation.

Daniel W. Taylor, 40, pleaded guilty last year to the federal misdemeanor charge. Last month, the state attorney general's office said it would separately charge Taylor with first-degree theft.

Taylor's doctor testified that he is severely epileptic, suffers 10 to 20 seizures a day and requires extra medical attention. Alexander Silvert, first assistant public defender and Taylor's attorney, recommended that the incarceration take place at a federal medical facility, noting that the stress of jail may worsen the condition.

Kobayashi agreed to recommend that Taylor serve his time at a facility equipped to deal with his condition.

Kobayashi also said she will allow Taylor, who is free on a $10,000 signature bond, 90 days to surrender to the federal prison system.

Silvert said he also does not want Taylor to be sent to the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, a West Coast federal prison or anywhere else with a large Native Hawaiian population for fear of his safety. Taylor and his family have received threats as a result of the publicity of the case, as has he, Silvert said.

While Taylor declined to speak at yesterday's hearing, Silvert read a statement by Taylor: "I am very ashamed of myself. ... I hope the Hawaiian community will be able to forgive me."

Silvert initially argued that Taylor should not spend any time in prison, given his cooperation with federal authorities in the case. Taylor helped locate co-defendant John Carta for federal authorities and wore a wiretapping device to help authorities gain evidence against him, Silvert said, and he helped explain the inner workings of illegal trafficking of Native Hawaiian artifacts.

"That kind of cooperation is well worth 12 months (reduced sentence)," Silvert said.

Carta was also sentenced in February to a year in prison but was found dead a month later in Kona. Police said they do not suspect foul play.

Silvert said he was angry that state Attorney General Mark Bennett is choosing to press state charges against Taylor after so much time had lapsed during the federal proceedings. If found guilty, Taylor would have to spend much more time behind bars. A plea agreement reached between Taylor and U.S. attorneys ensured he would not be found guilty of a felony.

"What was the point if he was going to get prosecuted in state courts?" Silvert said.

Taylor got involved with Kanupa in the first place only because Carta owed him a favor, Silvert said. "He didn't know what was in that cave, he didn't know what the Emerson collection was," Silvert said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors pointed out that Taylor owned an antiques shop and had put some of the items up for auction on eBay. "He was the one who was going to sell them in his shop, over the Internet," she said.

When he discovered the items were part of the Emerson collection, he tried to remove the labels, she said, and when he was first approached by authorities, he only admitted to having possession of the items he was asked about, not all of them, she said.

At one point, Connors said, Taylor tried to leave the items at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, historically the "Place of Refuge," in an attempt to avoid prosecution.

Kobayashi said Taylor tried to sell the items even after being warned not to. "The seriousness of the offense requires a term of imprisonment," she said.

Connors would not comment after the hearing, citing the upcoming state proceedings.

But Edward Halealoha Ayau, head of the group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'o Hawai'i Nei, the repatriation organization that returned the items to Kanupa in 2003, said Taylor deserves to be tried in state court.

"There's no theft charge in this (federal) case," Ayau said, noting that the trafficking charge is just a misdemeanor. "It's the theft that led to the trafficking."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.