Tommy Tanaka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tommy Tanaka is also the name of a Japanese wrestler, a Hawaiian surfer, and an American actor. For other uses, see Tanaka.

Tommy Tanaka is the Republican politician from Guam a United States territorial island in the North Pacific Ocean, previous Speaker of the territorial Senate, and previous candidate for the position of Governor of Guam.

Tanaka served as a Senator in the Guam Senate.

In 1994, Tanaka ran for Governor of Guam, but lost the election to Democrat Carl T.C. Gutierrez. The election was contested, but the case was decided in favor of Gutierrez.

1 Scandals
- 1.1 Gutierrez election
- 1.2 Rapadas appointment
2 Sources

[edit] Scandals

[edit] Gutierrez election

In 2003, Tanaka pled guilty to misprision of a felony as part of a political corruption probe by the Guam U.S. Attorney's Office in which Tanaka was accused of endorsing previously-rival Democratic candidate Gutierrez in 1997 in exchange for his construction firm receiving a large government contract to build school bus shelters a few months later. Judge William Alsup sentenced Tanaka to two years of supervised release, including six months of house arrest. In the trial, Air America Radio financier Evan Montvel Cohen testified against Tanaka.

[edit] Rapadas appointment

Tanaka was later implicated in allegations that he tried to influence the investigation that had been pursued against him by the U.S. Attorney's Office. In June, 2006, the USDOJ's Office of the Inspector General released their final report on their investigation into allegations made by previous interim U.S. Attorney for Guam Frederick Black that Tanaka's nephew Leonardo Rapadas replaced Black in his position as U.S. Attorney after Black called for an investigation into Washington-based lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Rapadas assumed the position after receiving President Bush's 2002 appointment. According to the investigation, "Black stated that he thought Tanaka had used his political influence to get Rapadas the nomination so that Tanaka's criminal matter would disappear." Rapadas was later recused from participation of any ongoing investigations of Tanaka. Black also claimed that Rapadas' nomination was intended to end his ongoing investigations into corruption by public officials in Guam. The OIG determined that Black's allegations were unsupported and that Rapadas' background investigation was sufficient and his appointment appropriate.