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Former top Honda

executive sentenced

in bribery case

CONCORD: American Honda Motor Co.'s former top sales executive was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for accepting millions of dollars in payoffs from dealers throughout the 1980s in a nationwide bribery scheme.

Stanley Cardiges, 49, was sentenced by Judge Joseph DiClerico in a Federal District Court in New Hampshire on charges of racketeering, mail fraud and conspiracy.

Cardiges, who resigned as American Honda's senior sales manager in 1992, had pleaded guilty to the charges. In a deal with prosecutors, he agreed to testify against other former Honda employees involved in the scheme and became the star witness for the prosecution.

Cardiges, of Laguna Hills, Calif., apologised for accepting the bribes in a brief statement to the court. He was led off to jail after the sentencing.

In all, 22 former Honda executives, two former dealers, a lawyer and an advertiser, were involved in the scheme and face sentencing for accepting $15 million in bribes, including cash, expensive cars, furniture, watches, college tuition for their children and shopping sprees in Hong Kong.

The kick-backs were paid by auto dealers in return for lucrative franchises and allocations of certain hot-selling Honda and Acura models that could be sold for thousands of dollars more than the sticker prices.

Some of the lesser participants in the bribery ring were also sentenced this week.

Sentencing is scheduled for Monday for Dennis Josleyn, 48, and John Billmeyer, 65, two former senior executives who were convicted in May as key figures in the scheme which operated in at least 30 states and was described by prosecutors as the country's largest ever commercial bribery case.

Josleyn, Honda's former West Coast sales manager, was found guilty of mail fraud racketeering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and faces up to 30 years in prison. Billmeyer, a former senior vice president at Honda, was convicted of conspiracy and faces up to five years.

American Honda is a subsidiary of Japan's Honda Motor Co. Ltd. No Japanese executives were involved in the scheme.

Prosecutors have called American Honda the main victim in the case because the Torrence, Ca.-based company faces millions of dollars in lawsuits from disgruntled dealers who did not receive preferential treatment.

American Honda spokesman Kurt Antonius acknowledged there have been civil suits filed against the company by Honda dealers, but declined to specify the number of actions.

"In any kind of large federal trial there's bound to be some litigation as a result and we're proceeding and developing our defence," Antonius said.

Honda dealers contacted by Reuters declined to talk about the case, but criminal justice professor Ray Helgemoe of the University of New Hampshire, said dealers would have a tough time proving unfair treatment by American Honda.

"They'll have to have clear documentation that they were promised X number of cars, or had X number of sales so they should have received more, otherwise it will be difficult case," said Helgemoe.

He predicted that American Honda would probably opt to settle some of the civil cases out of court, rather than face protracted lawsuits. "Honda wants to avoid the bad publicity. They'll settle some out of court," he said.-Reuter