CORRUPTION RUNS DEEP IN MAUI: Democrat Megadonor Sentenced in Maui County Bribery Case

Democrat megadonor Milton Choy of Hawaii was sentenced to three years in prison for being involved in a multi-million dollar bribery scheme that involved both state and county officials.

Honolulu District Court Judge Derrick Watson sentenced Choy, the founder of H2O Process Systems, to a 41-month sentence along with three years of supervised release.

Choy was found guilty in September after an investigation revealed he spent “more than $2 million over the course of six years bribing Stewart Stant, the former director of Maui’s Department of Environmental Management, in exchange for more than $19 million in no-bid contracts.”

Besides bribing Stant, Choy also bribed former Hawaii state lawmakers J. Kalani English and Ty Cullen who have been found guilty and sentenced to Federal prison for Honest Services Wire Fraud.

UPDATE | Honolulu businessman Milton Choy was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his involvement in a Maui County bribery case. https://t.co/1DdHFTIoVM

— KITV4 (@KITV4) August 30, 2023

Per KITV:

Honolulu businessman Milton Choy was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his involvement in a Maui County bribery case.

On Tuesday, Aug. 29, in Honolulu Federal Court, Choy was sentenced to 41 months in prison with three years of supervised release.

Choy is the owner and manager of H20 Process Systems, LLC and had offered bribes to Maui County officials, including Stewart Stant, an agent for Maui County’s Department of Environmental Management. The bribes had taken place between October 2012 and December 2018.

Throughout the case, Choy had been cooperative with law enforcement investigators and Michael Green, Choy’s lawyer, stated that Choy has agreed to cooperate until the very end. Both the prosecution and the judge acknowledged that because of Choy’s ongoing cooperation, they were able to bring corrupt officials to justice.

According to KHON 2,  Milton and his affiliates have donated well over $300,000 in “legal” donations to various democratic officials campaigns.

Donation records recorded by Open Secrets reveal Choy donated to political PACs outside of the state of Hawaii too.

In October of 2018, Choy donated $10,000 to the Democratic Party of California.

LOOK:

Corruption runs deep in Maui County, which raises concerns on who will be rewarded contracts as Lahaina and other parts of Maui County are looking to rebuild after devastating fires razed the island.