Tag: Kioni Dudley

November 1, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Heroes of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Some 14 Hawaii Island farmers, ranchers, food purveyors and ag entrepreneurs were among the “Heroes of Agriculture, Food and Environment” honored at the Hawaii Agriculture Conference held Sept. 23-24 at Ko’Olina, Oahu.

Ag conference organizers began polling the agriculture community in August, seeking nominations in seven categories. A review team then selects the winners based on the write-ups submitted.

“We were looking for the behind-the-scene heroes, the humble leaders,” said Kim Coffee-Isaak, executive director of the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii.

The 2010 Heroes of Agriculture, Food and the Environment are:

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September 9, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Aloun Farms owners withdraw guilty plea, will go to trial

The owners of Aloun Farms withdrew their guilty pleas to conspiring to commit forced labor this morning after a federal judge rejected their plea agreements.

Brothers Alec and Mike Sou are now scheduled to go on trial in November on charges that they allegedly exploited 44 workers imported from Thailand in 2004.

They could face more charges because the federal prosecutor said the Sous had pleaded guilty on the eve of a new indictment alleging additional crimes.

Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway threw out the plea deal because the brothers disputed some of the facts in the human trafficking case.

They had faced up to five years in prison under the agreement that was thrown out.

The Sous admitted to violations of the U.S. agricultural guest worker program, but they deny withholding passports and threatening deportation.

The Sous had asked for a lighter sentence with little or no jail time based in part on the idea that their farm is too valuable to the islands’ food supply to let it go untended.

The brothers were convicted of shipping 44 laborers from Thailand and forcing them to work on their farm, part of a pipeline to the United States that allegedly cornered foreign field hands into low-paying jobs with few rights.

“The incarceration of Alec and Mike Sou would threaten our food security and could endanger our future sustainability on Oahu,” wrote Kioni Dudley, president of the community group Friends of Makakilo, in a letter asking U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway for leniency. “Find some method of punishment which allows them to stay in their positions at Aloun Farms.”

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September 9, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Judge throws out plea deal for Aloun Farms owners

A federal judge is throwing out a plea deal for the owners of a major Hawaii farm who had pleaded guilty to exploiting 44 imported laborers from Thailand.

Chief U.S. District Susan Oki Mollway this morning rejected the agreement because Alec and Mike Sou disputed some of the facts in the human trafficking case.

The brothers, who operated Aloun Farms on Oahu, must now enter a new plea.

Prosecutors threaten to bring additional charges against the Sous should they choose to go to trial.

They had faced up to five years in prison under the agreement that was thrown out.

The Sous admitted to violations of the U.S. agricultural guest worker program, but they deny withholding passports and threatening deportation.

They could have faced up to five years imprisonment at today’s sentencing. The brothers’ maximum sentence was agreed on when they pleaded guilty to the crimes in January.

But the Sous asked for a lighter sentence with little or no jail time based in part on the idea that their farm is too valuable to the islands’ food supply to let it go untended.

The Sous admit to violations of the U.S. agricultural guest worker program, but they deny withholding the worker’s passports and threatening deportation.

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September 4, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables, Watermelon Post a Comment

Hawaiian farms being prosecuted for importing Thai workers

By Mark Niesse
Associated Press

HONOLULU — Two prominent, popular brothers who operate the second-largest vegetable farm in Hawaii will be sentenced in federal court this week on human trafficking charges — they pleaded guilty — but two former state governors, community groups, fellow farmers and other supporters are trying to keep them out of prison.

The brothers were convicted of shipping 44 laborers from Thailand and forcing them to work on their farm, part of a pipeline to the United States that allegedly cornered foreign field hands into low-paying jobs with few rights.

Aloun Farms may be too important to fail in an island state that once relied on pineapples and sugar cane but grows less than 15 percent of the food it consumes, according to supporters of defendants Alec and Mike Sou.

“The incarceration of Alec and Mike Sou would threaten our food security and could endanger our future sustainability on Oahu,” wrote Kioni Dudley, president of the community group Friends of Makakilo, in a letter asking U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway for leniency. “Find some method of punishment which allows them to stay in their positions at Aloun Farms.”

The Sou brothers are asking for a light sentence with little or no jail time based in part on the idea that their farm is too valuable to the islands’ food supply to let it go untended. The plea deal they agreed to in January called for up to five years imprisonment.

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September 2, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

There’s something about Ho’opili – Honolulu Weekly


Proposed ‘Ewa development defies snap judgments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVuo4R3tE4g[/youtube]

Kevin O’Leary
Sep 2, 2009

Last Friday’s daylong meeting of the State Land Use Commission, to rule on a petition by mega-developer D.R. Horton-Schuler to change the current zoning on 1,500 acres of prime ‘Ewa farmland from agriculture to mixed-use residential and commercial, was anything but boring.

Here’s Kioni Dudley, intervenor in the case, whom some have called the leader of the opposition: “In the beginning, over two years ago, this was just a gut feeling I had.” Now, it is more than a feeling, as Mr. Dudley–and everyone else with a sore gut over the proposed zone change–has picked up some unexpected allies, in the form of at least three State agencies and several local politicians.

Listen to Bryan Yee of the Attorney General’s office, speaking for the State Office of Planning: “We now know that if the petition [for the zoning change] goes through, H-I will be a parking lot from Waiawa to Makakilo. And the petitioner (Schuler) isn’t proposing any solutions.”

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August 24, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Ho’opili – The Real Facts about That Ag Land | Hawaii Political Info

By Kioni Dudley

Ho’opili is a 12,000 house project by DR Horton that will fill the entire area makai of the freeway between Waipahu and Kapolei, the area now occupied by Aloun Farms and Jefts Farms. To get an idea of the size of Ho’opili, one could put all of Waikiki, Ala Moana shopping center, and downtown Honolulu into its 1555 acres.

These are “prime” agricultural soils, classified as A and B soils by the UH Land Study. How special are A and B lands? There is not one acre of A land on the entire Big Island. Molokai has a small amount of A land, but no B soils. There are no A or B soils at all on Lanai, Kaho’olawe, or Ni’ihau.

Much of Oahu’s A and B lands have already been covered over by Mililani, Waipio, Waikele, Village Park, Royal Kunia, ‘Ewa, and Kapolei. We must save what is left.

I have been quoted as saying that this is the best farmland in the state. I stand corrected by Dr. Goro Uehara, Professor of Soil Science at the University of Hawaii who has studied soils in many different countries. He says this is the best farmland in the world. 

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