Judge Orders Kim to Serve Home Detention in Washington Area

A federal judge issued an order Tuesday that would effectively bar Rep. Jay C. Kim from campaigning in his district during the current Republican primary race.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez denied Kim’s request to postpone implementation of a two-month home detention sentence until after the June election.

More significantly, however, Paez ruled that Kim must serve his sentence in the Washington area.

After the congressman’s sentencing March 11 for accepting and concealing illegal campaign contributions, government and defense lawyers came away with the impression that he would be allowed to serve his sentence both in Washington and at his home in Diamond Bar.

In the federal system, people under house detention are usually permitted to leave their homes for up to 10 hours a day to work. For a politician, that would presumably include campaigning for reelection.

But Paez’s order Tuesday appeared to rule out that possibility.

“Because it was the court’s intention that defendant be able to perform his congressional duties in Washington, D.C., defendant shall serve the two-month period of home detention in Washington, D.C.,” Paez wrote.

He added that Kim’s travel during this period will be restricted to the District of Columbia and eastern Virginia, where the politician and his wife maintain a second home.

Paez also wrote that when Congress recesses for the Easter break later this week, Kim can continue to work at his congressional office in the capital.

Kim’s office did not return phone calls seeking comment, but his Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer, Thomas E. Holliday, said he was surprised and puzzled by Paez’s ruling.

Holliday said he intends to contact the federal probation office today to see whether the conditions can be modified.

One of Kim’s opponents in the June 2 primary, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Pete Pierce, predicted that the ruling would be a blow to Kim’s reelection effort.

“This is going to have a serious effect on him, there’s no question on that--as well it should,” he said.

But Assemblyman Gary G. Miller (R-Diamond Bar), another Kim opponent in the primary, termed the detention in Washington a “slight inconvenience” and doubted that it would affect the incumbent’s campaign.

“Any major political function he would have went to, some reporters would have been there,” Miller said of the congressman, who has not answered questions from the news media. “His main focus is going to be raising money for a campaign, and that he can do via telephone.”

Kim, who is seeking a fourth term in Congress, faces an uphill battle in his heavily Republican district, which includes portions of San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles counties.

After a four-year FBI investigation sparked by a Times probe, Kim pleaded guilty last August to misdemeanor violations of federal election laws.

He admitted to knowingly taking $155,000 in illegal foreign and corporate contributions.

Although the government asked for some jail time at his sentencing, Judge Paez ordered him to serve home detention, contribute 200 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine.