A Honolulu District Court judge Tuesday dismissed the 2023 criminal case against former Maui state Rep. Kaniela Ing, who pleaded no contest to not filing timely campaign spending reports.
Ing still faces $18,250 in fines from separate complaints by the state Campaign Spending Commission. He previously paid off $22,000 in fines.
The criminal complaint against Ing dismissed Tuesday was filed Feb. 15, 2023, alleging he “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly failed to timely file a supplemental report” with the commission by a July 31, 2023, deadline for the first six months of 2022.
The commission accused Ing of using campaign funds to cover $2,125 in rent for homes on Oahu and Maui and paying $219 on his domestic partner’s credit card account. He also allegedly deposited a $2,000 campaign check into his personal checking acccount and failed to document it on his campaign spending reports.
He faced a sentence of a possible year in jail and a $2,000 fine, but instead changed his not guilty plea on Aug. 28, 2023, to a no-contest plea. Judge Myron Takemoto accepted a deferred acceptance of no contest plea, an opportunity for the conviction to be expunged under certain conditions.
Ing failed to report to authorities for fingerprinting in a timely fashion, missing three deadlines under threat of being held in contempt, but ultimately complied.
Ing and his attorney, William Harrison, appeared Tuesday via Zoom.
Harrison told Judge Kenneth Shimozono his client had completed all the conditions of his deferral, noting a compliance letter is filed with the court. The deputy prosecutor said the state had no objection as it appeared Ing had complied, including paying fees and fines.
The Campaign Spending Commission voted in May to issue a preliminary determination of probable cause against Ing in the additional campaign spending violations complaint amounting to $18,250 in fines.
Ing is appealing the commission’s decision. The commission has not yet set the contesed case hearing, the commission’s general counsel, Gary Kam, said.
