Two former employees of American Samoa's Passport Office have begun a fifteen month jail sentence for stealing funds.
Peni Galea'i and Taase Aseali were sentenced to seven years, suspended on probation for five years, on condition they spend 15 months in prison.
They were also ordered to pay 12 thousand dollars.
The pair can receive a deduction in their sentence of a month for each thousand dollars they pay.
The charges stemmed from an audit of the Passport Office in 1999, which showed discrepancies in receipts from certificates of identity fees that the two handled.
