Executives fined $2,000
for illegal political gifts

A state judge fined several local executives $2,000 each after they pleaded guilty to charges of making illegal political donations to former Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign.

District Judge Fa'auuga To'oto'o yesterday denied a defense request to plead no contest to the charges, saying it's his policy not to allow such pleas.

But the judge granted a deferral to Maurice Kondo, Dennis Irie and Dennis Nakamoto of INK Architects Inc. and AES Design Group Inc. President Dexter Yee. The deferral will give the architects the opportunity to have their cases dismissed if they stay out of trouble for a year.

Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee opposed the deferral, saying the architects' actions undermined the electoral process.

"What the defendants did is funnel corporate money to their family and friends to give campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign," Lee said.

David Gierlach, an attorney for Irie and Nakamoto, said his clients were engaging in "a kind of conduct that was an epidemic in our community."

He argued that they were worthy of a deferral because this was their first office and they weren't likely to violate the law in the future.

Dale Lee, an attorney for Yee, said his client was not aware he was breaking the law when he exceeded the $4,000 limit for contributions to a mayoral candidate.

Lee said his client gave $2,000 at the solicitation of the Harris campaign in 2000 and gave another $4,000 in 2002 under the belief the contribution was for a separate race and would not place him over the $4,000 limit.

Under state law, donors are barred from giving more than $4,000 during a four-year election cycle to a mayoral candidate. They also are prohibited from giving money under false names.