Posted at 5:35 p.m., Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Man pleads guilty to attempting to extort Awana
Advertiser Staff
The man accused of attempting to blackmail Gov. Linda Lingle's former Chief of Staff Bob Awana pleaded guilty today to a single extortion charge under a plea agreement.In a hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright, Rajdatta Patkar pleaded guilty to a single criminal count for extortion. In exchange, federal prosecutors agreed to drop four criminal charges against Patkar, who was indicted in March 2006 for attempting to extort $35,000 from Awana.
The Indian national, who now living in Tokyo, has been held at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu Airport since March. Patkar will remain in federal custody until his sentencing on Oct. 29.
Awana resigned on June 29 after details of the extortion scheme began to surface. People familiar with the criminal case said that Patkar threatened to expose an extra-marital affair Awana had with a woman in the Philippines.
