CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lokelani Lindsey smiled at reporters yesterday as she walked into federal court, shortly before a judge ordered her to prison.
JAILED
Lokelani Lindsey is ordered to start
her sentence after traveling to Vegas
instead of caring for her husband
U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered former Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey to begin serving her six-month prison sentence yesterday for violating the court's trust.
The judge also criticized an unusual last-ditch attempt by Lindsey to disqualify Ezra from the case as "probably the single most incomprehensible act I have seen in my entire tenure as a federal judge."
Ezra withdrew his earlier order granting Lindsey a delay in her imprisonment until Nov. 3 on federal money-laundering and conspiracy charges. The judge said he took the action because she had gone to Las Vegas at least twice this year when she was supposed to be providing round-the-clock care for her terminally ill husband, Stephen Lindsey.
"Bottom line is, Mrs. Lindsey violated the court's trust; she abused the privilege I gave her, not for her benefit but her husband, and she does not deserve or is entitled to any further consideration by this court," Ezra said.
Ezra had granted Lindsey three extensions totaling 11 months to delay her imprisonment based on her representations that her husband was seriously ill and in need of care 24 hours a day which only she could provide.
"I was led to believe that Mr. Lindsey was literally on death's door -- that he was in such extreme condition that her absence from him even for a few hours was going to be virtually fatal to his ability to recover," Ezra said.
Lindsey's attorney, William Harrison, had argued that she had violated no conditions of her release by going to Las Vegas and did so only to confer with her Nevada-based attorney, David Chesnoff, and take a break from caring for her husband.
"What has she done wrong in this case other than to prepare for her husband not being with her for six months?"
Lindsey thanked Ezra for his compassion in granting the extensions to care for her husband.
"Were it not for that, he would not be here today," she said, adding he had nearly died five times, including twice in July.
She said Harrison and another attorney representing her in another matter advised her it was permissible to go on the trip.
But in a twist, Ezra produced a document signed by Lindsey and filed with the court late Thursday. The document shows Lindsey has "absolutely no remorse" for the crime she committed and asserts her innocence even after she pleaded guilty and admitted she knowingly assisting her sister, Ezra said.
Lindsey was sentenced in October 2002 after pleading guilty to helping hide sister Marlene Lindsey's assets from bankruptcy court.
The document, which refers to Lindsey as founder of Hawaii Active Whistleblowers Association International Inc., asks that Ezra recuse himself from her case because he is biased against her.
She accused Ezra, U.S. Rep. Ed Case and assistant U.S. attorneys of tampering with federal grand juries, including the grand jury that indicted her, Ezra said.
In the document, Lindsey claimed she was targeted for political reasons and arrested to block her from blowing the whistle on political and financial corruption in the state and involving Bishop Estate and race-based abuse of Hawaiians.
She says she only pleaded guilty for her husband's sake and because she was "railroaded."
She contends she has been the victim of death threats over the phone, including one that warned her to "back off whistleblowing or you and Steve will be barbecued."
Her car's brake line has been cut and her transmission tampered with, she said.
Ezra said he wasn't relying on the document in ruling against her, but said it was incredible that she had the "temerity and the arrogance" to submit the document in light of what the court had done to ensure her husband was taken care of.
Harrison said the document, which bears his and Chesnoff's name, had been inadvertently submitted and he hadn't known about it until told of it early yesterday. Harrison later said it was obvious the court took the document into consideration in ordering Lindsey into custody immediately.
Lindsey's stepdaughter, Stephanie Lindsey, who hasn't seen the document, said it apparently was important enough that Ezra mentioned it in court.
"If it didn't have teeth, why would he be concerned about it or bring it up?"
She said her father is in a fragile state and was "very upset" with Ezra's decision.
"We were not prepared for this at all," she said.
Lindsey wept as she hugged several family members after the hearing. As she was led away by U.S. marshals, Lindsey mouthed to them, "I'll be all right."
Federal prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday asking she be ordered to begin serving her sentence earlier after Lindsey was spotted twice -- unaccompanied at the Oakland, Calif., airport and at a Las Vegas hotel -- by the IRS agent who helped investigate her case.
The defense also acknowledged that she was at the Fremont Hotel and the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas in late January but that her husband had accompanied her on that trip.
"She was seen gambling," said Michael Seabright, assistant U.S. attorney. "I think Mrs. Lindsey acted with a degree of arrogance and she's finally seen justice today."
