Former state senator sentenced to six months
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
A state judge today sentenced former state lawmaker Marshall Ige to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges that he obtained $37,000 under false pretenses.
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Circuit Judge Sandra Simms ordered Ige, 47, to begin serving his time at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center on July 1 for second-degree theft, attempted tax evasion and three misdemeanor counts of failing to file state tax returns.
Former Sen. Marshall Ige was sentenced for falsely obtaining money from a farmer and a California couple.
Ige pleaded guilty in exchange for the state agreeing to drop first-degree theft and money-laundering charges.
Ige, who represented Kane'ohe and Kailua as a state representative for 16 years and a senator for four years, today described the episode as a "nightmarish" period and said he feels "relieved" that the sentencing is behind him and allows him to "turn the page" in his life.
The guilty plea for second-degree theft relates to Ige obtaining $7,000 as a rent advance from Vietnamese orchid farmer Hanh Lam in June 1999. Although Lam's sublease was paid until June 2000, Ige threatened Lam with eviction if he didn't pay the advance. Ige knew at the time that the California owners from whom he was leasing the land planned to evict Ige within three weeks for failure to pay back rent.
Lam, speaking today through an interpreter, said he was grateful for the sentence.
"I feel that it's very fair that he's going to jail," Lam said. "It will set an example."
Lam also said it gave him "strong faith in the United States" that the judge gave a strong sentence to the former senator.
Kurt Spohn, assistant state attorney general, called the sentence "courageous and fair." Referring to the former lawmaker's rambling statement in court defending his work for Vietnamese immigrants, Spohn added that "Ige still doesn't get it."
The attempted tax evasion charge stems from Ige's failure to disclose to the state Department of Taxation that he received $30,000 from Morris and Rita Wolfred, an elderly California couple, to have their daughter's criminal record here expunged. The first-degree theft and money laundering counts that were dropped were related to the Wolfred case.
Ige said in January the Wolfreds have been repaid and he was making restitution payments to Lam. The delay in reporting to OCCC will allow Ige more time to make restitution.
Ige was also ordered to serve 400 hours of community service as part of his probation in a separate case involving campaign spending violations. Ige pleaded no contest to those charges and received probation in April.
