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A retired Maui County supervisor was sentenced Thursday to 16 months in federal prison and two months of house arrest for taking bribes in a long-running scheme that involved his former boss at the Department of Environmental Management.
Wailuku resident Wilfredo Tamayo Savella, a maintenance mechanic supervisor, was handed the sentence by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi, who ordered Savella to turn himself in on June 2 to begin his sentence, according to court documents.
Savella, who was 71 years old at the time of his plea date in December, was charged with "acceptance of bribes in connection with the transactions of a local government receiving federal funds."
According to court documents, between 2013-2017 Savella took bribes valued at more than $40,000 from Milton Choy, the head of Oahu-based wastewater services company H2O Process Systems. Bribes included cash and trips to Las Vegas.
Savella worked under Stewart Stant, the former director of the Maui County Environmental Management Department, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in February for accepting nearly $2 million in bribes from Choy in exchange for directing almost $20 million in county contracts to Choy's company.
In July, former Maui State Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English was sentenced to 40 months in prison for taking bribes of more than $18,000 from Choy in exchange for shaping legislation while in office.
In a letter to Kobayashi, Savella apologized for committing "the despicable and humiliating deeds, which have been a heavy burden of guilt on my conscience."
"Those actions are solely of my doing and I admit full responsibility," he wrote.
He said his relationship with his children "has been strained" because of the "shame and disappointment due to my flagrant actions since they became aware of my case."
"I have worked hard for the County of Maui for 33 years but through my decision to accept bribes, I have forsaken the trust of not only of my family but also all Americans, the taxpayers and my community which I am so remorseful and contrite," he added. "I have and will continue to cooperate with government investigators, reporting to them in person, whenever they require me to."
He said he would like to "immerse myself in helping my community to prove my sincerity."
On Friday, Savella's attorney Victor Bakke said, "we were very satisfied with the judge and the prosecution and probation, everyone really I believe was reasonable and did their best to recommend a reasonable sentence to the judge."
Bakke said that the sentence Savella received was three months less than what the prosecution had asked for.
Overall, Bakke said his client "got used by Milton Choy and Stant" and that his client wasn't a player in the scheme.
"It's really kind of tragic, he's a good guy."
Bakke asked Kobayashi to recommend Savella be placed in prison in Sheridan, Ore. because of the doctors that are there, or in a facility in Arizona near to some family members.
Officials at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii could not be reached for comment on Friday.
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.