Kim Aide Sentenced for Fund-Raising Violations

Congressman Jay C. Kim’s former campaign treasurer was sentenced to five years of probation and fined $12,000 in Los Angeles federal court Monday for helping funnel and conceal illegal contributions to the Diamond Bar Republican.

“I apologize to the U.S. government for my misconduct. . . . I’m not going to repeat this mistake again,” Seokuk Ma, 51, told U.S. District Judge Manuel Real in Los Angeles.

Ma was convicted in a jury trial earlier this year of felony charges, but in the interest of fairness the prosecution recently agreed to drop the felony counts and allow Ma to plead guilty to misdemeanor violations of federal election law, which carry a lighter penalty.

The unusual action was prompted by a controversial government deal that permitted Kim and his wife, June, to plead guilty to misdemeanors for election law violations far more extensive than those committed by Ma. The Kims, who admitted accepting more than $230,000 in illegal foreign and corporate donations, are to be sentenced in January.

In handing down the sentence, Real suggested without elaboration that the Kims were largely responsible for Ma’s predicament. During his trial, Ma testified that he acted either in ignorance of U.S. election laws or out of loyalty to the Kims. He said he took orders from June Kim.