Defense attorneys told jurors their clients are not guilty and that the government's case is marred by self-serving witnesses, no financial evidence of kickbacks or political donations, and an unqualified analysis of the repair conducted as long as five years after the jobs were completed.

Charged in the case are former airport officials Dennis Hirokawa and Richard Okada and contractors Michael Furukawa and Wesley Uemura. They are alleged to have conspired among themselves and with at least six other contractors to fix the awards and inflate the value of the work done.

Contracts were worth no more than $25,000 each.

State Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya, a co-prosecutor in the case, said a private consultant estimated that the work performed was worth only 10 percent of what the state paid.

The trial is being held before U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra and is expected to last three weeks.