Dirty money: Ex-lawmaker gets 2 years for cesspool bribes

By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A former Hawaii lawmaker has been sentenced to two years in prison in a federal corruption case that’s drawn attention to a perennial problem in the islands: the tens of thousands of cesspools that release 50 million gallons of raw sewage into the state’s pristine waters every day. Former Democratic state Rep. Ty Cullen has has admitted taking bribes of cash and gambling chips in exchange for influencing legislation to reduce Hawaii’s widespread use of the in-ground pits for raw sewage. A federal judge said Cullen’s actions were a grievous breach of public trust. But she took into account his extensive cooperation with investigators to give him a sentence on the shorter end of what prosecutors recommended.