Court upholds Mirikitani conviction
By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press
A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the 2001 conviction of former Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani on charges of theft, bribery, extortion, wire fraud and witness tampering.
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: www.ca9.uscourts.gov/
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed the lower court's verdict, citing its previous ruling in the case of Mirikitani's wife and co-defendant, Sharron Bynum, and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.
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"We're obviously pleased that the conviction was affirmed," said Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Seabright.
Mirikitani is serving a four-year, three-month federal prison sentence and is scheduled to be released Sept. 28, 2005.
"We're looking at it (the ruling) and considering the options at this point," said Georgia McMillen, a Maui attorney who represents Mirikitani.
Mirikitani was charged in a scheme that offered two former aides large bonuses if they kicked back a share of the money to him.
On appeal, Mirikitani challenged the constitutionality of a federal law making it illegal to engage in theft or bribery from an entity that receives federal money and said the government did not prove there was a connection between the bribe and the federal money.
The 9th Circuit in April 2003 rejected that argument in Bynum's case, noting that the City and County of Honolulu received more than $140 million in federal money in 1999, the year Mirikitani was accused of giving the kickbacks.
Bynum, who married Mirikitani days before his sentencing, was found guilty of theft and extortion in the scheme but was acquitted of a bribery charge and served one year, nine months.
