David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon
(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)
U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii
Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang
—
DEFENDANT’S WITNESS
DANIEL KIHANO
Former Speaker of the House.
~ ~ ~
October 22, 1997
Former House Speaker Daniel Kihano faces
5 to 10 years for campaign fund abuse
By Jim Witty and Susan Kreifels, Star-Bulletin
The conviction of former House Speaker Daniel Kihano for diverting $27,000 from his campaign fund for personal use lets politicians know they aren't beyond the law, said the state's chief campaign spending watchdog.
"It sends a message to candidates that we are going to enforce the law. I would advise candidates not to take it lightly," said Bob Watada, director of the state Campaign Spending Commission.
A federal jury found Kihano guilty yesterday of 15 of 23 counts, including money laundering, obstruction of justice and filing a false income tax return. Two counts were dismissed. The jury also said Kihano must repay $20,075 to the federal government.
It is the first federal case of campaign-law violations tried in the state.
Matt Matsunaga, co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which acts on campaign finance legislation, expressed sympathy for Kihano and his family but lauded the U.S. attorney's office for strict enforcement of the campaign finance laws.
"This verdict sends a very clear message that law enforcement is not going to tolerate illegal misuse of funds," Matsunaga said.
Matsunaga's counterpart in the House, Rep. Terrance Tom, praised the stricter candidate accountability engendered by recent legislation. However, he said the proliferation of campaign spending and ethics laws could discourage candidates from seeking office.
"It could have a chilling effect, that people who would otherwise get into politics would be hesitant," he said.
But Matsunaga said the Kihano verdict won't turn many potential candidates away from the political arena.
"Those people truly wanting to serve the public are willing to play by the rules," he said.
Kihano, 64, faces five to 10 years in a federal prison, defense attorney Benjamin Cassiday said. U.S. District Judge Alan Kay said the sentence would be "near the vicinity" of five years or less.
Cassiday said he is considering asking the judge for a lighter sentence based on Kihano's poor health, but would not say if he would ask for probation only. U.S. prosecutors said a prison sentence was mandatory and that they would oppose a lighter sentence because federal prisons have adequate medical facilities.
Cassiday also said he would probably appeal the case.
Kihano would not comment on the verdict.
"I'll write a book and you can read it later," Kihano said.
Cassiday said Kihano was "obviously very disappointed." The jury deliberated for seven days and "we were hoping there would be more favorable results."
Kihano is scheduled to be sentenced March 9. Until then he will remain free on $100,000 signatory bail under pretrial supervision.
"He is a lifelong resident . . . and has served the community for many years," Kay said.
Kihano testified that he borrowed $20,000 from his campaign funds after he left office in 1992 because he was broke.
But he said he intended to pay back the money.
"Danny Kihano violated (the public) trust," said U.S. Attorney Steven Alm, adding that the public should not feel sorry for Kihano.
"Money in your campaign war chest is not personal money. He stole it; he's paying the consequences. This should serve as a warning to anyone (politicians) contemplating this or doing it."
Alm would not comment when asked if his office was investigating campaign spending of other politicians.
Alm said Kihano first came to the attention of federal prosecutors because of his role as an officer of Hale Nani Partners. The company, which was attempting to build a private surgery center on Maui, was funded in part by money loaned or invested by two convicted drug dealers, Alm said. Then investigators started looking at Kihano's campaign spending.
Cassiday said investigators picked on the "weakest" politician who was already retired. "The wake-up call should be to somebody in office," Cassiday said.
Jury foreman Emmanuel Chen said jurors reached a verdict on the 21 counts within three days. But two counts resulted in a hung jury because of difficulty in interpreting their instructions.
Kihano's actions,
subsequent charges
Former state House Speaker Daniel Kihano was convicted of federal charges based on these things he did:
Action: Used campaign funds to purchase annuities from Grand Pacific Life Insurance and later withdrew the money for personal use. Convicted: 2 counts of wire fraud. Wire fraud resulted from money wired from GPL to a mainland firm.
Action: Used campaign funds to purchase car insurance for personal and campaign vehicles after leaving office. Convicted: mail fraud. Mail fraud resulted from mailed insurance documents.
Action: Canceled a scheduled trip from Tokyo to Seoul in June 1992, paid for with campaign funds, and deposited the $631 refund check into his personal account. Convicted: mail fraud. Mail fraud resulted from mailed reimbursement check.
Action: Flew to a legislative conference in San Francisco using campaign funds, then took the reimbursement from the sponsoring group for personal use. Convicted: mail fraud. Mail fraud resulted from mailed reimbursement check.
Action: Cashed out a $20,000 annuity purchased with campaign funds, then withdrew the money and, in a series of bank transactions, converted it to personal use. Convicted: Six counts of money laundering.
Action: Created a backdated promissory note saying he intended to repay the annuity funds to the campaign, all in an attempt to mislead the federal grand jury into believing it had been executed in 1993. Convicted: 3 counts of obstruction of justice.
Action: Failed to report annuity funds as income on his personal income tax returns. Convicted: filing a false tax return.
http://starbulletin.com/97/10/22/news/story3.html
~ ~ ~
Kihano was
friend to many
A former House speaker,
Daniel Kihano dies
at age 66
By Richard Borreca, Star-Bulletin
Daniel Kihano was the quiet, helpful sort of person that fellow politicians considered a friend, first, and speaker of the house, second.
"Danny was always in sympathy with the needs of the poor," said state Rep. Joe Souki, who succeeded him as speaker when Kihano retired in 1992.
"He was a very kindly man, a humanist, perhaps too nice for this kind of business," Souki said.
Kihano, 66, died yesterday morning at St. Francis-West Hospital.
Although he served in the state Legislature for 22 years, including five as speaker, Kihano's public image suffered when he was convicted in 1997 on federal charges of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to obstruct justice and witness tampering. In May, U.S. District Judge Alan Kay granted Kihano a "compassionate release" from prison after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack while serving a two-year sentence in Lompoc, Calif.
Had less than a year to live
Doctors said Kihano had less than a year to live.
"He went from a person of stature to where he ended up, and it is very unfortunate," said Souki, a Maui Democrat.
"I still believe the courts and the community were too harsh," he said. "When you consider the contributions he made for the people of Hawaii in over 20 years, just one fault put him and the family through such shame. Ultimately, it was the stress that killed him."
Kihano was convicted of taking more than $27,000 of his campaign money for personal use and then trying to cover it up.
At the time of his release from prison, his attorney, Ben Cassiday, noted that Kihano was very sick and "his crime was not so serious that he should have to die in prison."
Friends said that after Kihano returned home, he saw the birth of two grandchildren and spent time with his family.
A Democrat, Kihano served the Crestview-Waipahu area for 22 years. He became the House speaker in 1987 after House Speaker Richard Kawakami died of a heart attack.
Kihano in 1993 was appointed as an executive assistant in the managing director's office of Mayor Frank Fasi's administration, and was co-chairman of Fasi's 1994 gubernatorial campaign.
Mayor Jeremy Harris reappointed him as an executive assistant that same year. He retired as an executive assistant in city managing director's office three years later.
Praised for service by Cayetano
Gov. Ben Cayetano issued a statement extending his sympathy and condolences to Kihano's family, calling him a dedicated public servant who will be remembered for his service in the House, "where he made tremendous contributions to help the people of Hawaii."
"As speaker of the House, his leadership style was very low key," Cayetano said. "But as a result, he was very successful in working in harmony with members on both sides of the aisle for the common good of the people."
The governor ordered that Hawaii's flag be flown at half staff on the day of Kihano's memorial services.
Kihano was born March 16, 1933, and graduated from Waipahu High School and Honolulu Business College. He was the former owner of the Danny Kihano Insurance Agency.
Funeral services are pending.
http://starbulletin.com/2000/01/27/news/story5.html
Internet References:
http://ilind.net/add_stories.htm
http://starbulletin.com/97/10/22/news/story3.html
http://starbulletin.com/2000/01/27/news/story5.html
TO GO TO THE WOO VS. HARMON WITNESS INDEX
www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Index.htm
Last update: June 11, 2008, by The Catbird