Ex-legislator pleads guilty to tax, theft charges
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Former state Sen. Marshall Ige today pleaded guilty to second-degee theft, attempted tax evasion and failure to file state income tax returns for three years as part of a plea agreement reached with the state.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In exchange for the guilty pleas, which were accepted by Circuit Judge Sandra Simms, the state dropped first-degree theft and money laundering charges.
Former state Sen. Marshall Ige, right, confers with his lawyer, Rick Sing. Ige faces possible jail time.
The guilty pleas are related to two separate cases. The theft count stems from an additional $7,000 rent Ige demanded from Vietnamese farmer Hahn Lam for a sublease that was not delinquent. The attempted tax evasion is related to $30,000 Ige received from an elderly California couple, Morris and Rita Wolfred, to have their daughter's criminal record here erased. No taxes were paid on the income.
Ige could be sentenced up to five years in jail and fined $10,000 each for the theft and attempted tax evasion counts, both Class C felonies. He also faces up to one year in jail and $25,000 in fines for the misdemeanor offenses of failing to file tax returns.
Deputy Attorney General Kurt Spohn told the court that the state will be seeking one full year of jail time and probation to cover other charges at Ige's sentencing, scheduled for May 28.
"It closes another chapter in my life," the 48-year-old Ige said outside of court. "For me, it's time to rebuild."
Ige added that he has repaid the Wolfreds in full and is in the process of repaying Lam.
