PAGO PAGO, American Samoa >> The sister of American Samoa’s lieutenant governor has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for conspiracy to steal more than $325,000 in AmeriCorps grant funds.  

Mine Pase is the younger sister of Lt. Gov. Faoa Aitofele Sunia and former executive director of the territory’s Special Services Commission.  She was also ordered to pay the money back at her sentencing Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

The 63-year-old pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy, admitting she arranged for herself, commissioners and others to receive federal grant funds for their own benefit. 

Assistant Federal Public Defender Michelle Peterson asked the court to consider a sentence below the federal guidelines of 24 to 30 months in jail. She says Pase is remorseful.