Federal jury acquits three in Shack Waikiki extortion trial

A federal court jury returned verdicts of not guilty this afternoon for three men accused of extortion involving The Shack Waikiki restaurant.

The government had said Tory Winward, who was a minority owner of the restaurant, Curtis Swanson and Jesse Yoshino conspired to use violence and intimidation to force out the majority owners. The government also accused Winward and Swanson of conspiring to use threats and intimidation to extort money from a person who conducted promotional events at the restaurant for liquor companies.

Winward’s lawyer said the only threats made against majority owners Andy Lindberg and Brendan Burchfiel was legal action for withholding financial records that he said showed they had diverted money from the Waikiki restaurant to their other Shack restaurants.

The jury found Winward, Swanson and Yoshino not guilty of all charges.