The U.S. government is paying travel and hotel expenditures for John Emil Kruse and his wife Elaine to be in Washington D.C. where they will be sentenced at the federal court for converting government funds - which is the Section 1602 Program - for personal and business use, according to the latest court documents.

Defense attorneys for the Kruses filed a joint motion on Jan. 26 asking the federal court in Washington D.C. for an ordering directing the U.S. Marshal’s Service to “make travel arrangements... to bring each defendant from American Samoa... to this [D.C] jurisdiction for their joint guilty plea and sentencing hearing scheduled on February 5, 2015, and that subsistence expenses authorized shall include their hotel costs.”

The motion also states that the U.S. Department of Justice does not oppose the defense motion.

According to defense attorneys, the “Kruses have previously been determined to be financially indigent and to qualify for court-appointed counsel.” It also cites provisions of federal law that authorize the court to “direct the United States marshal to arrange for [an indigent defendant’s] means of noncustodial transportation or furnish the fare for such transportation to the place where his appearance is required, and in addition may direct the United States marshal to furnish that person with an amount of money for subsistence expenses to his destination, not to exceed the amount authorized as a per diem allowance for travel.”

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell, on Jan. 29 granted the motion, saying that to ensure there are no delays in the hearing, the defendants must be in Washington D.C. no later than Feb. 4.

Samoa News was unable to obtain information on when the Kruses will depart the territory for the nation’s capital.

Of the more than $800,000 awarded to the Kruses to built an 8-unit low income housing project, prosecutors estimate that nearly $400,000 was for expenses unrelated to the project.

In the sentencing memorandum, the defense says the Kruses were “faced with growing financial pressures” including debts owed for another business operated by the couple, which caused them to use the federal funds as a “short-term loan”. The defense asked for leniency and recommend supervised probation and home detention.

However, prosecutors — in the sentencing memo — recommends 12 months in jail for each defendant. According to the government the defendants’ seeking “leniency is based on their alleged dedication to the low-income housing they were commissioned to build.”

“The defendants represent that they made a good-faith effort to construct low-income housing with taxpayer funds, but the opposite is true. The defendants lied, defrauded the government, and converted government funds to their own personal benefit,” they said and argued that no leniency is warranted for the Kruses.