Jul. 28—William Wong will serve his time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Ore.
A Honolulu architect who pleaded guilty to bribing county workers to fast-track permits was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison Thursday.
William Wong, 73, founder of Asia Pacific Architectural Consultants, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 that required him to plead guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud for paying thousands to city Department of Planning and Permitting workers to fast-track his projects’ approval.
Wong’s attorney, William A. Harrison, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson acknowledged the depth of support for Wong as evidenced by the 72 letters of support sent to his court.
“Ultimately he said this is a public trust issue. We would have obviously welcomed home confinement … but my client was comfortable with the sentence, ” said Harrison. “He’s of the position that he did wrong, and he took responsibility. He understood the court’s sentence in the case.”
The U.S. attorney’s office declined comment. Wong will serve his time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Ore. He must self-report by 2 p.m.Sept. 7.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig S. Nolan and Michael D. Nammar prosecuted the government’s case following an investigation by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.
Wong must also pay a $5, 000 fine and a $100 special assessment, and serve three years of federal probation after he gets out of prison.
In May the city’s former chief building inspector was sentenced to five years in federal prison and fined $100, 000 for taking $103, 000 in bribes from Wong.
, a former 38-year veteran of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, entered a guilty plea Oct. 17 to accepting $103, 000 in bribes to pre-screen plans and expedite approval of permits for contractors and Wong.
Inouye retired from city service in 2017 and was indicted March 17, 2021. He created a company to help accept bribes and told an FBI agent and an assistant U.S. attorney on July 11, 2019, that the $100, 000 he received was a loan from Wong, according to federal court documents.
Inouye reimbursed Wong $120, 000 prior to his indictment.