Ex-Democratic Fund-Raiser Avoids Prison

A former Los Angeles political fund-raiser implicated in a notorious 1996 Buddhist temple campaign event was spared any time in prison Tuesday but told the judge that she will “never be able to remove the shame of this conviction.”

A federal judge decided that prison time was too harsh a punishment for 50-year-old Maria Hsia, an immigration consultant convicted by a jury last year on five felony counts of causing false reports to be filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered Hsia to spend three months in home confinement in Los Angeles, serve three years on probation and pay a $5,000 fine.

Hsia, although not admitting wrongdoing, told the judge in a sobbing, 10-minute plea for leniency that she regrets she “can never, ever erase the pain that my actions have caused” to her family, friends and supporters in Southern California.

The sentence brings to a close a particularly painful and embarrassing chapter in the campaign fund-raising scandals that dogged the Democrats and then-Vice President Al Gore after the 1996 presidential election.

The fund-raiser at the Buddhist Hsi Lai temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif., became synonymous with fund-raising abuses, as evidence unfolded showing that nuns, monks and volunteers were improperly used to disguise the true source of about $100,000 in contributions.

Gore, who appeared at the luncheon surrounded by saffron-robed Buddhists, said initially that he thought the event was for “community outreach,” but he later acknowledged that he knew it was “finance-related.” Although Hsia’s trial produced no evidence of wrongdoing by Gore or of his knowledge of illegalities, George W. Bush’s presidential campaign last year aired a commercial with a photo of Gore at the fund-raiser to question his integrity.

Hsia, portrayed by prosecutors as the mastermind of the fund-raising scheme, wiped tears from her eyes after Friedman imposed his sentence. She declined to comment on the sentence, but her 26-year-old son said he was thrilled that she will not have to go to prison.

Under the terms of Hsia’s three months of home confinement, “at least she can visit my grandparents [in Beverly Hills] and take care of them,” said Edward Hsia, a tenant services coordinator in Woodland Hills.

Prosecutor Eric Yaffee, who noted that “there’s still a possibility of appeal,” also declined to discuss the sentence.

But Justice Department prosecutors said during the daylong hearing that they believed it was important for Hsia to spend at least some time in prison to underscore the severity of her offense.

“It will send a message to others who might consider perpetrating this kind of activity,” Yaffee told the judge. “These people who might be tempted must know that they will face severe consequences if they violate the law.”

Friedman agreed--to a point.

“I don’t think you were a victim, and I don’t think you were innocent, and I think in your own way you took steps to corrupt the system,” the judge told Hsia. “There needs to be some punishment.”

Although Hsia could theoretically have faced up to 25 years in prison, Friedman decided that federal guidelines limited him to a maximum sentence of six months. He opted instead for a fine, home confinement and probation, as well as 250 hours of community service and a three-year ban on any political fund-raising.

Friedman noted that Hsia had no prior criminal record and said: “I don’t think she’s going to violate the law again.”

He also appeared swayed by the “very sincere” testimonials of Hsia’s friends, relatives and supporters. Those endorsing Hsia’s character included former California Secretary of State March Fong Eu, the Rev. Cecil L. Murray of First AME Church, a Sanwa Bank vice president, and the current abbot at the Hsi Lai temple. They said that Hsia, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, worked vigorously to help the Asian American community in Southern California by pushing for improvements in education and immigration services.

“She had really organized the unrepresented,” Gary Townsend, a friend who is the chief deputy assessor for Los Angeles County, told the judge.

Prosecutors, however, portrayed Hsia as an “overly ambitious” woman who used her illegal fund-raising schemes repeatedly over several years as a way of enhancing her political and business prospects.

Hsia’s business is now dormant because of the scandal, said her attorney, Nancy Luque. Friedman is considering a request by Hsia to travel to China before starting her home confinement so she can continue an immigration business she has started in Shanghai.