Former State Representative Ty Cullen was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday after being convicted of federal bribery charges related to a corruption scandal involving toxic sewer wells.
Cullen previously admitted to accepting bribes, in the form of cash and gambling chips, in exchange for pushing legislation that would have curtailed the tens of thousands of cesspools in the Hawaiian Islands.
“This was a gross breach of the public trust by him,” US District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway said in delivering Cullen’s sentence.
“It appears to have been motivated by greed and it went on for several years,” added Mollway. “I’m very concerned that this wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgment.”
In his plea deal, Cullen admitted to accepting a total of $23,000 in kickbacks from Honolulu businessman Milton Choy, who would benefit from legislation promoting publicly funded cesspool conversion projects.
Cesspools (underground wells that collect wastewater from buildings unconnected to city services) are widespread in Hawaii, and recent legislative efforts have been made to expedite the conversion of some of the 83,000 toxic wastewater from cesspools into septic tanks, which is more environmentally friendly.
Cullen also said he took $22,000 in gaming chips from Choy during a trip to a wastewater conference in New Orleans.
Cullen served as vice chairman of the state House Finance Committee during part of the time he took bribes.
The former deputy told the judge that he was ashamed of having accepted the bribes
. “I want to say I’m sorry for my family who stayed with me, my friends, my constituents, my community, and the people of Hawaii,” Cullen said. “I will continue to work to correct my mistakes. And make sure this never happens again.”
Cullen is not the first state Democrat to face jail time due to cesspool kickbacks.
j Kalani English, a Democrat, and former Senate Majority Leader was sentenced last year to 40 months in prison for taking bribes from Choy for influencing cesspool legislation.
Choy is expected to be sentenced next month.
Some have likened the toxic sewage pits scarring Hawaii to the dirty politics surrounding efforts to clean them up.
“We were joking and saying, ‘Oh, now these politicians have given cesspools a bad name,'” Stuart Coleman, executive director of the nonprofit group Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations, told the Associated Press.
“It’s not a huge leap when you’re talking about this kind of corruption and [then] talking about the cesspool that is politics.”
