Kaua'i civic leader free on bail
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Gary Baldwin, the Kaua'i civic leader who is being sought in Arizona on theft and fraud charges, is free on $274,000 bail.
Advertiser library photo • July 25, 2002
Baldwin, 55, posted a bond Friday. The charter member of the state's Hawai'i Tourism Authority board and former director of the Kaua'i Economic Development Board is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from an Arizona eye doctor for whom he worked in the mid-1980s. He has denied the charges.
Gary Baldwin posted bail Friday.
He was arrested by the FBI at his Kaua'i North Shore home on a warrant for interstate flight to avoid prosecution.
Gov. Ben Cayetano, who appointed Baldwin to the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, has said he will order Baldwin's extradition when the proper paperwork has been presented.
Baldwin, in court Thursday, did not challenge his identity as the man accused in Arizona, but indicated he will fight the charges.
State deputy attorney general Lisa Itomura said the next steps in the case require the governor of Arizona to formally request of Hawai'i's governor that Baldwin be extradited.
If Cayetano grants the request, the case will be brought before a Hawai'i judge Aug. 22.
"At that time Mr. Baldwin can contest extradition or not," Itomura said.
Bail was set at $274,000, the amount requested by the Maricopa County prosecutor's office in Arizona. Baldwin posted a bond in that amount shortly after 1 p.m. Friday. Friends on Kaua'i had been raising money to pay for the bond, which was submitted to the court by A-1 Bail Bonds.
Baldwin is required to remain on O'ahu. Honolulu police Det. Bentley Alama said Baldwin has been checking in by telephone daily as required by the court.
