Ex-Sen. Ige gets one-year probation
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
A state judge admonished Marshall Ige yesterday for trivializing his misdemeanor campaign spending offense and sentenced the former state senator to one-year probation and 400 hours of community service and fined him $125.
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Ige had asked for a deferral of his no contest pleas to give him an opportunity to have the case dropped.
Marshall Ige certified inaccurate spending reports.
He said the state was punishing him for a "technical campaign violation."
But Honolulu District Judge Tenney Tongg turned down the request and found Ige guilty of the charge of certification of inaccurate campaign spending reports.
"I sense that you have been less than forthright and truthful," Tongg told Ige yesterday. "You also continue to trivialize these offenses."
In a statement to the court before sentencing, Ige said he was at the Legislature when the lawmakers worked on the campaign spending laws.
"It's a technical campaign violation. If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone," he said.
Ige, 46, of Kane'ohe, served in the House in 1978-94 and the Senate from 1996 until last year, when he was defeated in the Democratic primary. He still faces a trial in September on unrelated felony charges of theft, money laundering and attempted tax-evasion.
Ige is accused of of improperly receiving $30,000 from a Beverly Hills couple and threatening a Windward farmer with eviction if he didn't pay $7,000 advance rent even though the rent was covered. by an agreement.
Ige said at yesterday's hearing that the campaign spending case has damaged his reputation.
"My integrity, word and trust is all gone," he said. "The feeling of hopelessness is incredible.
"Yes, I am bitter. Yes, I am very angry. I went from everything to nothing. The state has shown me that no matter how bad things are today, tomorrow can be worse. If there is anyone I need to apologize to, it's my community."
Since the case represents Ige's first criminal conviction, Tongg did not impose jail time.
"I'm very satisfied with (the sentence)," Deputy Attorney General Kurt Spohn said. "The stiff part is the probation because it puts him under the jurisdiction of the court for a year. He's going to have to be honest with his probation officer.
"If he had pled guilty instead of no contest and showed some remorse, I would not have opposed a deferred acceptance."
Robert Watada, executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission, was expecting a harsher sentence. "I was disappointed there wasn't any jail time," Watada said. "It was a serious offense."
The charge against Ige stemmed from loans that prosecutors say he misrepresented, as well as an $18,262 debt that they say he improperly reported.
"He has never explained who he received $24,000 from," Watada added. "He reported that it came from relatives, but the relatives we asked said they gave him no money. And the ($18,262) paid by a vendor (Ryan's Graphics for printing jobs during Ige's unsuccessful 1994 campaign) has never been reported to this day."
Watada, however, said Ige's conviction sends a clear message — "that elected officials are expected to be deeply law-abiding, since they make the laws."
Despite his problems, Ige did not close the door on returning to politics someday.
"We still have a future," Ige told Tongg. "It's going to be tough. It's not over."
