Seventy-eight-year-old Douglas Gilman Sr. was sentenced to two years in federal prison yesterday for running a family cockfighting operation on the North Shore of O'ahu.

Gilman's lawyer, Pamela Tamashiro, argued for probation, saying that Gilman's age made him an unlikely candidate to commit new crimes.

Tamashiro also said that "chicken fighting is a part of Hawai'i culture" in arguing for leniency for her client.

But U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway denied both arguments, pointing out that Gilman was convicted of a felony gambling charge in state court in 1994, when he was 64 years old and already in retirement from his job as a painter at Pearl Harbor.

"He was the leader of a family gambling business that had existed for many, many years," Mollway said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehlick said Gilman belied the adage that "with age comes wisdom."

The defendant "was involved in illegal acts for money," said Muehlick.

In addition to the prison term, Gilman must also pay a $5,000 fine and complete three years of supervised release, the federal version of parole.

Gilman was convicted of criminal conspiracy and operation of an illegal gambling business.

Other members of the gambling ring admitted paying off members of the Honolulu Police Department to protect the Gilman chicken fights in Waialua.

Three HPD officers were convicted of criminal charges connected to the Gilman cockfighting arena.