A former District Court employee avoided prison time yesterday and was placed on five years probation after being convicted on two felony counts of fixing traffic tickets.

Alberta Souza, 61, also was fined $2,000 by Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario. Souza had faced a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each of the counts.

Souza was a clerk at Wai'anae District Court when, prosecutors said, she dismissed a traffic ticket of someone she knew without court approval. Senior Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya said Souza also waived the fines and fees and shortened the length of a license suspension imposed on another acquaintance without approval.

A jury found her guilty on these two charges in July, but failed to reach a verdict on a charge that accused her of transferring a traffic ticket from the 'Ewa District Court to the Wai'anae District Court without court approval.

Yesterday, Souza did not apologize for her actions and continued to proclaim her innocence. She told the judge that what happened was the result of an "unintentional clerical mistake."

"I had no intentions of doing anything wrong," she said. "I never denied I made a mistake. I'm proud of my work."

But Goya argued that Souza should spend a year in prison before being placed on probation. He said Souza made deliberate entries to "lessen the burden of sentences" and also "substituted herself for the judge."

Del Rosario said this was a "troubling" case because Souza had had an unblemished record in the 18 years as a Judiciary employee. He said there was no evidence of personal gain in what Souza did.

The judge suggested that the shame and stigma that Souza has dealt with "constituted a certain amount of punishment" and felt she did not deserve any prison time.

After the sentencing, Souza and her attorney, Eric Seitz, declined to comment. Goya said he was disappointed with the probation.

"We believe that the kind of conduct that was involved here was intentional," Goya said. "The law doesn't require that there be any kind of financial reward. It's simply the fact that tampering with the records is sufficient in itself to be considered serious."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.