Posted on: Saturday, June 4, 2005

Executives plead no contest in campaign probe

Advertiser Staff

Two more engineers have pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of making illegal contributions to political campaigns, but were given a chance to have their cases dismissed if they each pay a $2,000 fine and stay out of trouble for a year.

Dexter Kubota, president of KFC Engineering Management Inc., and Brian Bowers, president of affiliate KFC Airport Inc., did not contest charges that they each contributed $2,000 over the $4,000 limit to former Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign.

Honolulu District Judge Leslie Hayashi granted their requests to defer accepting the pleas and to give them a chance to have the charges dropped. City Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Van Marter had objected.

Dale Lee, lawyer for both men, was not available for comment.

Forty-nine people and two companies have pleaded guilty or no contest in the campaign-finance prosecution. Charges against all will be dropped if they comply with conditions similar to probation.