Posted on: Friday, July 30, 2004
Ex-lawmaker's sentencing put off
By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer
In the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court and federal appeals court rulings, the sentencing for former state Rep. Nathan Suzuki on a fraud charge was postponed Wednesday for at least 3ý months.
But the higher court rulings left unclear what can be considered at sentencing, and visiting U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie of Los Angeles postponed proceedings until Nov. 15.
The postponement is the latest fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that essentially said that juries, not judges, must decide all elements of a criminal case that would lead to a harsher sentence. The ruling involved a Washington state case.
Last week, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that that principle applies to federal cases.
Other federal sentencing proceedings here also have been put off.
Suzuki pleaded guilty to a role in creating secretly held corporations and bank accounts in Tonga and Hong Kong to hide more than $3 million in assets of Hono-lulu businessman Michael Boulware.
Boulware was sentenced to 51 months in prison for his 2001 tax evasion conviction. That case is on appeal.
As Suzuki did not go to trial, a jury did not reach any findings that the prosecution wants Rafeedie to consider in imposing a higher sentence.
For example, Edward Groves, a special attorney with the U.S. Justice Department's Tax Division, maintains that Suzuki should get at least 4 years and nine months in prison, partly based on Suzuki contributing to losses of $1.5 million in state, federal and corporate taxes.
But Suzuki's lawyer, William Harrison, contends that no taxes were lost and that Suzuki should get probation or no more than six months behind bars.
Groves asked Rafeedie to schedule a jury trial to allow the prosecution to prove the elements for a longer sentence. Rafeedie said he will decide Nov. 15 on whether to sentence Suzuki or set a jury trial.
Suzuki, a certified public accountant and income-tax preparer who is free on a signature bond, left the courthouse without comment.
Harrison said his client is doing consulting work, but he declined to elaborate.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling hasn't had a significant impact on state court cases because Hawai'i for the most part has fixed sentences.
In addition, the Hawai'i Supreme Court has long established that factors that would lead to a harsher sentence must be part of the jury trial.
Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
Suzuki, 56, who served as Democratic representative of the 31st House District (Salt Lake, Moanalua) from 1992-2002, pleaded guilty in March to a federal charge of participating in an offshore tax-fraud scheme. He admitted that he conducted part of the scheme from his office at the state Capitol.
