A federal jury deliberated less than five hours before finding former state prison guard Feso Malufau and inmate Tineimalo Adkins guilty Friday of racketeering crimes in connection with the Hawaii-based USO Family prison gang.
The jurors found Malufau, 55, a former guard at Halawa Correctional Facility, guilty of racketeering conspiracy for accepting bribes from USO Family members to smuggle marijuana and cigarettes into the prison. They also found that Malufau committed mail fraud and wire fraud, possessed with intent to distribute marijuana and conspired to possess with intent to distribute marijuana in support of the gang, a criminal enterprise.
The jurors found Adkins, 34, guilty of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering for leading gang prospects in a brutal assault of a fellow inmate at Halawa for the prospect of earning entry into the gang.
Adkins’ lawyer Marcus Sierra said his client was prepared for the worst.
Malufau and his lawyer Barry Edwards had no comment on the verdicts.
Neither defendant testified or presented witnesses.
Sierra told the jurors that Adkins did not participate in the assault.
Edwards told the jurors that USO Family members framed Malufau.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake said the convictions are significant because they send a message and will have a chilling effect on gang activity.
Hawaii Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said in a written statement that the "guilty verdicts are a result of our concerted effort to root out contraband and corruption and strengthen procedures," and said the arrests were due to partnerships with the FBI, DEA, IRS and the county police departments.
Otake said because of a code of silence among inmates and intimidation by the gang, law enforcement couldn’t have taken down such a prolific organization like USO Family without working cooperatively.
The state DPS previously investigated and cleared Malufau of smuggling contraband into Halawa.
Malufau and Adkins each face maximum 20-year prison terms when U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi sentences them in February.
Adkins was in custody during the trial.
Malufau was free on $25,000 unsecured signature bond.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady asked Kobayashi to revoke Malufau’s bond due to the guilty verdict because he no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. The judge set for Oct. 20 a hearing to decide whether he should remain free on bond.
Edwards said Malufau deserves to remain free pending sentencing because he has complied with all of the conditions of his release and is the only caregiver to his 8-year-old and 18-year-old sons, who are still in school.
Malufau’s wife, Michelle, is serving a one-year federal prison term for bankruptcy fraud for failing to declare as income the bribe money her husband had accepted from USO Family gang members. Her husband was also facing bankruptcy fraud charges until he was indicted for racketeering in September 2013.
Adkins and Malufau are the only ones among 18 defendants charged in the indictment with various racketeering crimes to go to trial. The other defendants pleaded guilty. Malufau was the only prison guard. The rest were Hawaii inmates when they committed their crimes.
Two other former prison guards admitted that they also accepted bribes to smuggle contraband into Halawa for USO members.
Former guard John Joseph Kalei Hall was sentenced to 13 months in prison in June 2013 for accepting bribes to smuggle cigarettes into Halawa. Because of his cooperation in the racketeering case, the court reduced his sentence to 10 months in April. Hall testified in Malufau and Adkins’ trial.
Former guard Mark Damas admitted in July that he accepted bribes to smuggle methamphetamine into Halawa. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
