Karie Luana Klein, a former Hawaiʻi Department of Education (DOE) complex area business manager, was convicted today of three counts of Theft in the Second Degree.
Klein was charged on February 16, 2023, for allegedly falsifying DOE mileage and parking forms and using DOE purchase orders and a “P-Card” to steal more than $7,000 from the DOE.
Today, Circuit Court Judge Peter K. Kubota denied Klein’s motion for a deferred acceptance of her no contest pleas and adjudged her guilty of three counts of Theft in the Second Degree, a felony. The court sentenced her to four years of probation, 75 days of imprisonment stayed for six months, 750 hours of community service, and $7,004.83 in restitution.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Thomas Michener of the Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division.
“Ms. Klein abused the public’s trust by using Department of Education funds for her personal expenses,” said Attorney General Anne Lopez. “Government employees who exploit their positions will be prosecuted and held accountable.”
Klein worked as a business manager at the DOE’s Kau-Keaau-Pahoa complex.
The case is State v. Klein, 3CPC-23-0000151.