Mirikitani receives 4 years in prison

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

Former City Councilman Andy Mirikitani and his wife, Sharron, enter the federal courthouse to hear their sentences on public corruption convictions. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser . . . Mirikitani started out as a reformer Personal: Born Aug. 25, 1955, in New York; raised in Honolulu. Married his co-defendant, Sharron Bynum, last week. Education: Graduated from Punahou School in 1973; bachelor's degree in religion from the University of Southern California in 1978, where he graduated with honors; law degree from the University of Santa Clara in 1982. Work: Attorney in private practice in 1983; first elected to City Council in 1990, took office in 1991; re-elected in 1994 and 1998; retired Saturday. Reputation: Early in his political career, he earned a reputation as a reformer. He won an award in 1994 for distinguished public service for pushing city ethics laws, helped end the practice of allowing high-ranking city officials the use of free take-home vehicles and wrote the city sexual harassment law. In recent years, he was better know for his crusade against hostess bars, strip clubs and adult video stores in the council district that includes Manoa, Makiki, McCully and Ala Moana.

Former City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who began his political career as an ethics champion, was ordered yesterday to report to a federal prison on Jan. 17 to start serving a prison term for his public corruption convictions.

U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced Mirikitani to 4 1/4 years in prison, noting the former councilman's lack of remorse.

"Mr. Mirikitani has never accepted responsibility for these acts," the judge said.

Gillmor said Mirikitani's criminal acts showed "a lack of respect for the process and a lack of respect for the public."

Mirikitani, the only Honolulu City Council member and the highest-ranking elected official in Hawai'i to be indicted on federal felony charges while in office, did not make any comment in court and showed no emotion when the judge imposed the sentence.

Gillmor also sentenced Mirikitani's new wife and co-defendant, Sharron Mirikitani (formerly Bynum), to serve one year and nine months in federal prison. She was convicted of assisting Mirikitani in the illegal bribery-kickback case.

In addition, the Mirikitanis, who were married last week, were ordered to pay restitution of $6,884, the amount they received in the kickback scheme.

Based on federal law and the judge's earlier findings in the case, Gillmor's range of prison terms was 51 to 63 months for Andy Mirikitani and 21 to 27 months for his wife.

Gillmor sentenced both to the lowest end, but the judge had raised the range for Mirikitani, on the basis of her findings that he had lied during his trial and that he was an organizer of the bribery scheme

The judge also found that the scheme involved government money and Mirikitani acting as a public official — one of the points that the defense contested, which led to the postponement of the sentencing from Tuesday until yesterday.

Mirikitani was convicted in July of theft, bribery, extortion, wire fraud and witness tampering for offering two bonuses to two of his then-council aides if they kicked back a share of the money to him. His wife was convicted of helping him in the theft and extortion case.

Both must report to separate, but yet-to-be-determined federal prisons on Jan. 17 and must pay their own travel expenses.

Mirikitani requested that he be sent to a facility in Las Vegas or Oregon. His wife asked to be sent to Fort Worth, Texas, after first requesting prisons close to her relatives and then asking that she be spared "cold weather" prisons because of her arthritis.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright said the attitude of the couple "showed that they in fact never intended to stand up and admit that what they did was wrong and apologize to the public."

"Mr. Mirikitani arrogantly manipulated the public trust and he got a deserved sentence of over four years," Seabright said.

Former Mirikitani aide Jonn Serikawa, one of the two former aides who testified against Mirikitani, said he thought the sentence was appropriate.

"I'm just glad it's over," he said.

Serikawa said he thought the outcome was "sad" because Mirikitani had done good things for the community in the past. "I hope that people don't stereotype all politicians as dishonest because of what happened in this trial," Serikawa said.

During the sentencing hearing, defense attorney John Edmunds argued that Mirikitani should serve less time in prison because of his "extraordinary" work as a public official. Edmunds said that Mirikitani introduced more bills, had more of his proposals become law and sent in more requests for assistance to the administration than any of his colleagues.

City Councilman John DeSoto, who clashed with Mirikitani during their terms at the council, said: "I think Andy got what he deserves."

Sharron Mirikitani's attorney, assistant federal public defender William Domingo, had asked that she be given probation or sentenced to home detention. He cited a heart attack in February and other ailments. Gillmor denied that request, noting that Domingo had not provided evidence of a life-threatening medical condition for his client.

Sharron Mirikitani at first declined to speak in court, saying: "Anything that I say won't make a bit of difference."

"This was decided the moment I walked in the door," she said.

Seabright said her statement provided further evidence that both of them want "to blame everyone else" for the actions that brought them down.

City Councilman Steve Holmes said he was disappointed that the sentence was on the low end of the sentencing range. "I didn't think it was sending a strong enough message to them," he said.

Holmes said he would like to see the Legislature pass a law that would require an official convicted of public corruption to forfeit his or her pension and benefits. "It seems like you've got to send a strong message about commitment," he said.

Mirikitani will keep his pension benefits. With his marriage to his wife on Friday, the eve of his resignation, Sharron Mirikitani will receive lifetime free medical and dental benefits.

Jury forewoman Missy Sato returned to court to watch the sentencing. "If I had my way, I would give them more, but at least finally they're going away," she said.

Sato and Jim McIntosh, an alternate juror who lives in Mirikitani's district, said Mirikitani should have apologized.

"It's really a shameful thing what he's done," McIntosh said, adding that Mirikitani should have resigned upon his conviction. "That shows what the man's made of."

City Councilman Duke Bainum said the corruption case hurt more people than Mirikitani. "He lost the position he loved and his profession," Bainum said. "The taxpayers lost a lot of money and respect for city government."

Advertiser staff writers Lynda Arakawa and Brandon Masuoka contributed to this report. Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.