ORANGE COUNTY

Honda dealer sentenced: A Corona del Mar Honda dealer was sentenced Friday to 14 months in prison, two years of probation and fined $20,000 for his role in the American Honda bribery case. Mark L. Benson., a zone sales manager and former co-owner of Costa Mesa Honda/Infiniti pleaded guilty last October to mail fraud. Since last fall, Benson and 17 other former Honda employees, two former dealers and an attorney--six with ties to Orange County--have been convicted of accepting at least $15 million in cash and gifts from dealers between 1978 and 1992 in exchange for extra allotments of scarce Honda and Acura models and for lucrative Honda franchises. The bribery ring peaked in the 1980s when Hondas were in particularly high demand. Benson also must pay for his cost of incarceration, which could total $40,000 to $50,000, said Michael J. Connolly, assistant U.S. attorney in Concord, N.H. The court agreed to allow the Cosa Mesa executive to delay serving his sentence until Oct. 20 to put his personal affairs in order.