On Tuesday, a former Hawaii state senator was sentenced to more than three years for taking bribes in exchange for shaping legislation while in office.
Jamie Kalani English, 55, former majority leader of the Senate, pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud in February, acknowledging that he had accepted bribes from a Hawaii businessman in exchange for helping to craft legislation that would help a business that was engaged in publicly funded cesspool conversion projects.
English had a long political career as a Maui County councilman before serving in the Legislature for two decades, since 2014. After an extensive investigation by the FBI over several years, it was discovered that he had accepted more than $18,000 in cash and other gifts, including meals and hotel rooms in Las Vegas, in exchange for influencing the development of wastewater legislation. He was subsequently detained in January 2021.
English was given a 40-month jail term, followed by three years of supervised release, by Hawaii District Judge Susan Mollway. In addition, English was mandated to pay a $100,000 fine. He wasn’t detained on Tuesday, but on August 16 he must appear at a federal detention facility.
Mollway claimed that over the course of several years, the English took bribes with ease. And he did it without seeming to want any more cash. He had a number of properties in Hana under his ownership, and he also maintained a consultancy firm to supplement his salary as a lawmaker. According to Mollway, the case involved greed.
“What you have done here is so serious, so detrimental to the fabric of society, that surely a serious sentence is warranted,” the judge said.
English asked for a reduced sentence of 30 months but Prosecutors were pushing for a 42-month sentence.
Here’s what Mollway told English:
“What you did was not a momentary giving in to temptation. You had the mindset – not a momentary lapse. You had a mindset that you could do this, and it appears you didn’t think you could get caught.”
Although the sentencing recommendations in English’s case suggested he should serve between 37 and 46 months in prison, the highest sentence that could have been imposed on him was 20 years.
Scott Saiki, the speaker of the House, stated in a statement following the 40-month sentence for English that was handed down by district judge Susan Oki Mollway, “I hope this serves as a message to everyone in government that there can be no tolerance for unethical conduct.”
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Sources: Dailywire, Theepochtimes, Kitv