Sia has date Despite stacks of letters pleading for leniency, federal Judge David Ezra sentenced investor Sukamto Sia yesterday to three years in prison.
with federal prison
Appeals on his behalf by
Hawaii notables fail to impress
the presiding judgeBy Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.comSia, a Singapore citizen and the former chairman of the Bank of Honolulu, also faces deportation after completing his sentence in federal prison.
Sia pleaded guilty in October to two counts of bankruptcy fraud and one count of scheming to defraud the Bank of Honolulu, a federally insured bank. In August 2000 a federal grand jury indicted him on charges he knowingly hid nearly $8 million before declaring bankruptcy, and spent $757,249 in tax refunds.
"Sia and his cohorts used a federally insured bank as their own piggy bank," said Ezra, comparing Sia's actions to robbing a bank with a gun, except "very few bank robbers get away with millions of dollars."
Besides the three-year sentence, Ezra also sentenced Sia to a subsequent five years' supervised release and ordered him to pay $3.12 million in restitution, of which he already has paid more than $2 million.
Sia, wearing blue prison garb, apologized: "I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused this court, my family and friends."
He admitted to making "bad choices" and engaging in illegal conduct when at a low point, but asked the judge to allow him to work to pay back his creditors.
After the sentencing, he tearfully said goodbye to friends and hugged his fiancee, Kelly Randall, who showed little emotion and refused comment.
A number of Hawaii notables, including University of Hawaii football coach June Jones and entertainer Danny Kaleikini, had come to Sia's defense and asked the court for leniency.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nakamura said that no matter how rich Sia is or how influential his friends, "he's just a common criminal. He committed serious crimes. He deserves serious punishment."
The 36-month sentence was on the high end of the lowered sentencing guidelines of 20 to 40 months under a plea agreement. Otherwise, Sia would have faced between 57 and 71 months of imprisonment.
In the agreement, the government agreed to drop charges against Randall and Sia's younger brother Sumitro Sukamto in exchange for the plea and a promise to pay restitution.
Nakamura said it would have been difficult to obtain a conviction, considering the foreign witnesses, beyond subpoena power and obtaining records from Swiss and Singaporean bank accounts, which have strict secrecy laws.
Sia attorney David Chesnoff said Ezra's sentence was fair, although he had argued for probation so that Sia could work again to pay off his creditors. Chesnoff said Sia did good to help people by his generous charitable contributions and employing many people in Hawaii.
Nakamura countered that his contributions were small compared with the $300 million he was said to have been worth in 1994, and that he continued to lie about his assets.
He outlined what he called Sia's pattern of lying: how he took out $6 million in bogus loans, causing Bank of Honolulu to fail.
Despite mounting debt, he went on gambling sprees and trips around the world, using state refund money.