Ex-Senate Official Pleads Guilty to Accepting Free Trip to Hawaii

Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Henry K. Giugni was placed on probation for a year after pleading guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge of accepting a free trip to Hawaii from AT&T.;

Giugni also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey to reimburse American Telephone & Telegraph Co. $2,722, the price of the first-class, round-trip ticket between Washington and Honolulu. As part of a plea agreement, he also paid a $5,000 civil penalty.

The one-time Honolulu police officer and former aide to Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) admitted accepting the ticket in late June, 1988, about three weeks after he recommended that the Senate award AT&T; a $219,000 contract to provide a phone system for the U.S. Capitol Police.

From 1987 until his retirement in December, 1990, Giugni acted as the Senate’s chief purchasing officer, responsible for a $115-million budget each year. He also sat on the Police Board, which supervises Congress’ police force.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert R. Chapman said in the plea agreement that no impropriety was found in the procurement process for the telephone system. Neither Giugni nor the AT&T; lobbyist who offered him the ticket was aware of the pending contract in April, 1988, when the trip was first discussed, Chapman said.

The company has said it felt obligated to pay for the ticket since AT&T; had invited Giugni to attend the July 5, 1998, ceremony dedicating the company’s new Honolulu headquarters.

Giugni, 67, pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor section in the law reserved for those who knowingly commit a criminal act but without “willfulness”--or specific criminal intent.