HONOLULU -- Former news anchorman and Republican politician Dalton Tanonaka pleaded guilty Thursday to crimes that could get him 30 years in prison.

Tanonaka secretly funneled thousands of dollars into his campaigns, prosecutors said. However, his lawyer denies he was trying to hide anything.

Tanonaka's journalism career included KITV, KHON, the Honolulu Advertiser and Japanese television. Name recognition wasn't enough to get him elected.

Prosecutors said if voters thought a journalist would be trustworthy, they were wrong.

"By his pattern of omissions he violated the laws and the trust," federal prosecutor Ronald Johnson said.

Tanonaka admitted illegally financing campaigns for lieutenant governor and Congress with about $80,000 in loans. He hid the debts from a bank to get other loans and he kept a consulting contract with a Japanese lumber company secret, leaving it off candidate disclosure forms, prosecutors said.

His lawyer calls the violations "technical."

"But by omitting things, was Dalton trying to hide things from the government? No, I don't think he was trying to hide anything. But that doesn't make it OK," defense attorney Michael Green said.

"The word technical is not anywhere in there. It is knowing and willful conduct, making false statements, accepting illegal campaign contributions," Johnson said.

Even though the penalties in the case are potentially very stiff, Tanonaka's attorney hopes for probation or home detention because Tanonaka pleaded guilty quickly and his crimes apparently didn't cost anyone any money.

"Everyone thinks that, who doesn't know the story, thinks he's a crook, and he's not," Green said.

"The people of the United States were hurt by these omissions. The people in this country have a right to expect that their government is going to be ethical and healthy," FBI Special-Agent-In-Charge Charles Goodwin said.

Tanonaka will be sentenced in November. He hopes to find a job in Japan.