Thursday’s verdict is not the end of the legal troubles for Louis and Katherine Kealoha. The couple faces two more trials.
Bank fraud case
>> Trial scheduled to start: Oct. 21
>> Defendants: Katherine Kealoha, Louis Kealoha
>> Charges: Bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, obstruction of an official proceeding
The Kealohas are accused of lying about their incomes on loan applications for home mortgages. Katherine Kealoha is accused of forging the signature of a police officer on a Honolulu Police Department report and of convincing a brother and sister to testify falsely to a federal grand jury.
>> Follow all our coverage of the Kealohas here.
Drug case
>> Trial scheduled to start: Jan. 14
>> Defendants: Katherine Kealoha and her brother, Rudolph Puana
>> Charges: Conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances, distributing and dispensing oxycodone and fentanyl, concealing a felony, health care fraud, being an addict in possession of a firearm
Kealoha and her brother, a physician, are accused of agreeing with others to sell or exchange prescription drugs for cocaine. Puana is accused of prescribing and distributing oxycodone and fentanyl outside the scope of his professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Kealoha is accused of concealing from law enforcement her brother’s involvement in the prescription drugs-for-cocaine scheme. Puana is accused of billing Medicaid for the prescription drugs he improperly distributed to his unnamed and uncharged co-conspirators and of possessing firearms after seeking treatment for cocaine addiction.
KEY EVENTS IN THE KEALOHAS’ CASE
Nov. 18, 2009
The Honolulu Police Commission unanimously selects Capt. Louis Kealoha as chief from a group of six finalists to replace Boisse Correa.
June 22, 2013
City Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, the chief’s wife, reports to police the mailbox has been stolen from the family’s Kahala home.
June 29, 2013
Katherine Kealoha reports her uncle, Gerard Puana, was recorded on surveillance video stealing the mailbox. The Honolulu Police Department turns over the case to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
June 30, 2013
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service determines the person in the video appears to be Puana.
July 1, 2013
Federal prosecutors charge Puana with destroying a mailbox, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine.
Feb. 5, 2014
The Police Commission votes to extend Chief Louis Kealoha’s contract for a second five-year term, ending Nov. 27, 2019.
Dec. 4, 2014
On the first day of Puana’s trial in U.S. District Court, Louis Kealoha identifies the person in the video as Puana but causes a mistrial by telling the jury about Puana’s 2011 conviction for unlawfully entering a neighbor’s home. Alexander Silvert, Puana’s defense attorney, accuses Louis Kealoha of purposely causing the mistrial to avert a not-guilty verdict that would have undercut Katherine Kealoha’s standing in a civil case against Puana.
Dec. 16, 2014
At the government’s request, the court dismisses Puana’s criminal case.
Dec. 17, 2014
Silvert says he has turned over information about the mailbox theft case to the FBI for investigation. This eventually triggers a federal grand jury query about alleged police misconduct, which leads to an investigation centering on the Kealohas and others.
Feb. 12, 2015
Jury sides with Katherine Kealoha in her civil case against her uncle and grandmother Florence Puana, and awards her $658,787 in damages.
June 17, 2016
The Kealohas sue the Honolulu Ethics Commission, alleging that former Executive Director Chuck Totto and his staff conducted “vindictive, unsubstantiated and illegal investigations” against them.
Dec. 16, 2016
Retired Honolulu Police Department officer Niall Silva pleads guilty to conspiring with other officers and Katherine Kealoha to frame Puana for the theft of the mailbox.
Dec. 20, 2016
Chief Louis Kealoha places himself on voluntary paid leave after the FBI sends him a “target letter” informing him that he is the focus of a criminal investigation. Deputy Chief Cary Okimoto is appointed acting chief.
Jan. 6, 2017
Police Commission Chairman Max Sword announces Chief Kealoha has agreed to retire, ending a 33-year career. No details are released.
Jan. 18, 2017
Sword announces Louis Kealoha will be paid $250,000 in severance, out of HPD funds, in exchange for retiring Feb. 28. The agreement states the money is to be returned if the police chief is convicted of a felony.
Jan. 27, 2017
Despite objections from acting Chief Okimoto, Louis Kealoha receives his severance payment from HPD funds, according to Sword.
Feb. 28, 2017
Louis Kealoha officially retires from HPD.
Oct. 19, 2017
Grand jury indicts Katherine Kealoha, Louis Kealoha, Derek Wayne Hahn, Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen, Gordon Shiraishi and Daniel Sellers on conspiracy and obstruction charges.
Aug. 20, 2018
Katherine Kealoha resigns from her prosecutor job.
Jan. 11, 2019
Sellers pleads guilty to disclosing confidential law enforcement information to Katherine Kealoha.
April 29, 2019
Sellers is sentenced to one year of probation, fined $2,500 and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
May 23, 2019
Jurors hear opening statements in the federal conspiracy trial of the Kealohas, Hahn, Nguyen and Shiraishi.
June 17, 2019
Government lawyers rest their case.
June 19, 2019
Shiraishi, the last of the defendants, rests his case.
June 25-26, 2019
Jury hears closing arguments.
June 27, 2019
Louis and Katherine Kealoha and two others are found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction.
