Jamie Kalani English, Honest Services Wire Fraud, Hawaii 2022

Honolulu, Hawaii – Former Hawaii State Legislators Plead Guilty to Honest Services Wire Fraud

Two former Hawaii state legislators pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu announced today. Jamie Kalani English, 55, of Hana, Maui, and Ty J.K. Cullen, 41, of Waipahu, Hawaii, pleaded guilty to separate Informations charging each of them with one count of honest services wire fraud.

The Informations charge that English and Cullen accepted multiple bribes in return for performing, and agreeing to perform, official legislative acts on behalf of a Hawaii businessperson. Each defendant faces maximum penalties of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 at their sentencings, which are set before Judge Susan Oki Mollway on July 5, 2022.

Court documents and information provided in court detailed a series of bribes paid to English by a Hawaii businessperson, identified as “Person A” in the Information, over the course of several years. More recently, in June of 2019, English requested that Person A provide him with two hotel rooms in Las Vegas for his use while attending a concert. In return for the rooms, English later emailed Person A a draft legislative report concerning cesspools which could directly benefit Person A’s company.

In January 2020, English introduced into law a Senate bill involving cesspools that could directly benefit Person A’s company. In return, Person A paid English $1,000. On March 11, 2020, Person A met with English and offered him $10,000 in cash to kill the cesspool bill. English accepted the $10,000 stating “it’s easy to kill bills.” Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the bill did not advance.

Similarly, court documents and information provided in court detailed a series of bribes paid to Cullen over the course of several years by an individual also identified as “Person A” in the Information pertaining to Cullen. Cullen initially accepted casino chips in New Orleans from Person A and later supported legislation that would benefit Person A’s company. More recently, in September of 2019, Cullen accepted $5,000 from Person A for anticipated legislative assistance that would benefit Person A’s company.

On their annual mandatory gift disclosure reports, English and Cullen failed to report any of the bribes and gifts paid and given to him by Person A. As a part of their official gift disclosure submissions, English and Cullen emailed this false and misleading disclosure form, thereby using interstate commerce.

The investigation in the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson, Micah Smith and Michael Albanese of the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case.

Defendant: Jamie Kalani English

Criminal Charges: Honest services wire fraud

City and State: Honolulu, Hawaii

Exact Date: January 2020

Sentence or Outcome: Faces maximum penalties of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 at sentencing on July 5, 2022

Dollar Amounts: $1,000, $10,000, $5,000

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