Former Maui official is sentenced to 10 years in bribery scheme

The former director of the Maui County Department of Environmental Management who took more than $2 million in bribes in exchange for steering at least 56 sole source contracts to a Honolulu wastewater company was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday.

Stewart Olani Stant, 56, asked to report to the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Ore., on April 6 to begin serving his sentence. Stant will pay $1.9 million in restitution and a mandatory $100 assessment. Following his release, he will be on federal probation for three years.

In court Wednesday morning, Stant, dressed in a black shirt and gray coat, apologized for his actions.

“I regret what I did and I am truly sorry for what happened,” he said. “What has happened does not define who I am. I am not the person that did this yet I will take all responsibility … and will make restitution for this for the rest of my life.”

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson acknowledged the 50 letters of support he received that “universally praise” Stant’s character, work and efforts as an employee, father, family member and friend.

In handing down his sentence, Watson emphasized that it was a message that had to be sent “to deter those in our public sector at all levels, including the one I operate in every day.”

Watson rejected recommendations from prosecutors and federal probation officials for a shorter sentence.

“The public trust, graft in violation of that trust will not be tolerated, at any level. That is the message that must be conveyed today and it must be conveyed immediately,” said Watson, addressing Stant in court. “Anyone like you who stands before this court having stolen from those they were … appointed to serve, that they swore to serve, that they were elected to serve, must expect that this type of sentence will be one that is meted out by this court.”

Speaking in court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said Stant’s case is about a man who “peddled the influence and power the people of Maui entrusted him with to line his personal pockets, stay in luxury hotels, eat at fancy restaurants, travel extensively, gamble, go to Vegas and party.”

Stant pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to a single count of conspiracy to deprive the public of the right to honest services for his part in what Sorenson has called, “the largest single-known case of bribery prosecuted” in the district of Hawaii.

“We have the largest known federal bribery case of record, so brazen and wanton that $733,000 of the bribes were paid by bank deposits and checks. The money was so pervasive that many times it wasn’t even connected to a particular project … it was just a stream of benefits ensuring that Mr. Stant stayed on retainer,” Sorenson said.

Watson agreed that he had never seen a bribery case like Stant’s.

“Mr. Stant was a public servant entrusted by the taxpayers to act in their best interest,” said Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Honolulu field office, in a statement. “Instead, he violated that trust by accepting nearly $2 million in bribes. Today’s sentence sends a clear message: the FBI will work tirelessly to investigate public corruption and bring those responsible to justice.”

Between 2012 and 2018 Stant took money from wastewater company H20 Process Systems owner Milton J. Choy through 43 deposits into Stant’s personal account and 118 separate cash deposits.

Choy also paid $424,987 to a travel company to cover Stant’s trips. Stant spent $187,000 on dining, $60,000 on hostess bars, $54,000 on luxury hotel stays, taking out $165,000 in cash withdrawals and spending thousands on his residential mortgage, a Mercedes-Benz automobile and a Rolex watch.

In June 2017, Stant bought $40,000 in gambling chips but cashed out more than $183,000 worth of chips he did not buy, authorities say.

“These monies didn’t go to help your family … these monies went to help you … enjoy life, drink, eat, wrap yourself in luxury,” said Watson, addressing Stant in court Wednesday. “Today’s the day. I hope you enjoyed those years living that lifestyle because there is a consequence. This is why those who swear to uphold the public trust, the laws of this state, the laws of this country … when you violate that public trust … when you violate that confidence that the public has in you … when you violate the laws of this state and nation you must expect that a price will be paid.”

Stant is one of four public officials to be charged in the past 11 months during an ongoing investigation into public corruption in Hawaii by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Choy cooperated with the federal government and helped secure charges against former state Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English and former Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen, who was vice chair of the House Committee on Finance.

English was sentenced in July to 40 months in federal prison and Cullen is scheduled to be sentenced April 6.