Gov. Linda Lingle's re-election campaign has returned $4,000 in donations linked to Jack Abramoff, the Washington, D.C., lobbyist at the center of a fraud and political corruption scandal.

The Republican governor received a $3,000 contribution from Abramoff in December 2003 and a $1,000 contribution from Greenberg Traurig, his former law and lobbying firm, in March 2004.

Miriam Hellreich, Lingle's campaign finance director, said the campaign decided to return the money after Abramoff pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges in federal cases in Washington and Florida.

The money was returned Friday.

"It was obvious that we wanted to return the money," Hellreich said yesterday. "It isn't illegal. It's just a matter that we don't want to accept money from people who have admitted to that kind of guilt. It's just a matter of we felt like it was the more ethical thing to do."

The Lingle campaign's decision to return the money was first reported Friday evening by Hawai'i Reporter, a Web site that focuses on conservative, libertarian and small-business issues.

Over the past few months, numerous politicians have either returned Abramoff-related campaign money or donated it to charity to distance themselves from the lobbyist and avoid the appearance they are linked to the scandal.

Abramoff and several Indian tribes he represented had given more than $4 million in political contributions in the past several years. The lobbyist admitted to defrauding some of the tribes and is cooperating with federal authorities in a wider political corruption investigation.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said he would return $6,000 from three tribes that worked with Abramoff if tribal leaders asked for the money back. Inouye, a leader on tribal issues in the Senate, said he had been receiving campaign contributions from the tribes in the years before they were represented by Abramoff.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he would not return a $2,000 tribal contribution to his 2002 campaign because the money was given before the tribe hired Abramoff.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.