4 fined for illegal political
contributionsThe donors, all tied to engineering firms,
are fined a total of $5,000
A state judge has fined four political donors a total of $5,000 for making illegal campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris.
District Judge Faye Koyanagi yesterday fined Lori Okamoto $2,000 for making $56,000 in excessive political contributions to the Harris campaign and for laundering those donations under false names.
The judge also fined retired engineers Wallace Endo, Harold Yoshizaki and Stanley Shimabukuro $1,000 each for making $21,000 in over-the-limit contributions to the Harris campaign.
All four donors pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor campaign-spending charges, and Koyanagi granted them a deferral of their no-contest pleas. A deferral gives the four the opportunity to have their criminal cases dismissed if they stay out of trouble for a year.
"The court is concerned that this type of offense breaches the public trust," Koyanagi said.
Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee asked the court for probation, saying their actions undermined the integrity of the electoral process.
But Dale Lee, attorney for Okamoto, said his client cooperated with investigators and was an "unlikely participant" in the campaign-spending violations.
Okamoto is married to Gary Okamoto, who heads the local engineering firm Wilson Okamoto & Associates Inc., which has received more than $17 million in nonbid design and consulting contracts from the city during the past decade.
Prosecutors alleged that Lori Okamoto laundered thousands of dollars in contributions to the Harris campaign through friends such as First Hawaiian Bank executive Kent Iboshi, First Hawaiian bank teller Leona Nishimura and insurance executive Janice Fukuda.
All three recently pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of making improper donations to the Harris campaign.
Last October, the state Campaign Spending Commission fined Gary Okamoto $44,500 for funneling more than $65,000 to Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and ex-Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.
Pam Tamashiro, attorney for Shimabukuro, Endo and Yoshizaki, said her clients also cooperated with prosecutors. Tamashiro said the investigation has "been very trying" on the three, who have accepted responsibility for their acts.
Shimabukuro, Endo and Yoshizaki are former engineers and co-founders of Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki Inc.
Last May, the state Campaign Spending Commission fined Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki $32,000 for making excessive and false-name contributions to the campaigns of Harris, Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.
Under state law, donors can give no more than $6,000 to a gubernatorial candidate and $4,000 to a mayoral candidate during a four-year election cycle. They also are barred from making donations in the names of others to circumvent that cap.