Kealohas to be sentenced in March

Retired Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his former deputy prosecutor wife, Katherine Kealoha, will have to wait 5-1/2 more months to learn their fates.

U.S. District Chief Judge J. Michael Seabright set their sentencing for March 17.

A federal jury found the Kealohas guilty in June on charges accusing them of conspiring to frame a relative with stealing their mailbox and covering up their actions by lying. They were scheduled to get sentenced Thursday, but that was before they pleaded guilty last week to other charges.

The Kealohas pleaded guilty to bank fraud for lying on loan applications. Additionally, Katherine Kealoha pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and failing to report her brother’s involvement in illegal drug distribution.

The Kealohas’ co-defendants in the mailbox case, former Honolulu police officers Derek Wayne Hahn and Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen, will get sentenced March 18.

The lawyers for Louis Kea­loha, Hahn and Nguyen believe their clients face a possible prison sentencing range of between three and four years. Lawyers for Katherine Kealoha believe she faces a longer sentence because of being the leader in the conspiracy.

How much prison time each defendant faces depends on whether Seabright determines the aim of the conspiracy, to which all four were found guilty, was to deprive the Kealoha relative of his civil rights.

Federal prosecutors charged Katherine Kealoha’s uncle, Gerard Puana, with mailbox theft based on a police report she filed identifying him as the person captured on home surveillance video walking off with the mailbox.

Puana would have faced a prison term of up to three years if he was found guilty. On the first day of his trial in U.S. District Court, however, Louis Kealoha, after also identifying Puana as the person in the video, caused a mistrial by making an improper statement in front of the jury. Federal prosecutors had the case dismissed two weeks later.

Nguyen’s lawyer, Randall Hironaka, points out that when the jurors in the mailbox case found the four defendants guilty of conspiracy, they determined that the object of the conspiracy was to obstruct justice, according to their verdict form. They could have also or alternatively found that the objects or object of the conspiracy was to deprive Puana of his civil rights, obstruct an official proceeding or make false statements to a government agency. They did not, however, check the boxes in front of any of those choices.

Notwithstanding the verdict, Seabright could still determine that the object of the conspiracy was to deprive Puana of his civil rights. He gave government and defense lawyers November deadlines to file written arguments on the issue and will hold a hearing in December. He plans to announce his decision in February.

Hironaka said a deprivation of civil rights finding by Seabright will double the possible sentencing range for Nguyen. Gary Singh, Katherine Kealoha’s court- appointed lawyer, said such a finding means a difference of about five years.

That’s only for the mailbox case. Both Kealohas will also get sentenced in March for bank fraud and Katherine Kealoha will get sentenced for aggravated identity theft and failing to report her brother’s involvement in illegal drug distribution.

The Kealohas pleaded guilty last week pursuant to agreements they made with the government. In exchange for the guilty pleas, the government promises to recommend to Seabright that, except for the aggravated identity theft, the Kealohas serve all of their sentences at the same time. The punishment for aggravated identity theft is a mandatory two-year prison term to be served separately and in addition to any other sentences.

Seabright accepted the Kealohas’ guilty pleas but reserved judgment on whether to accept their sentencing and plea agreements with the government. He could reject the agreements and impose consecutive, or back-to-back, sentences.

The Kealohas might no longer be married by the time they are sentenced. Louis Kealoha filed for divorce Oct. 15. Katherine Kea­loha filed her response to the petition Tuesday. She agreed with all of the claims except for her husband’s claim that she is not entitled to spousal support or alimony.

Hahn and Nguyen have been on paid and unpaid leave from the Honolulu Police Department since they were indicted in October 2017. HPD says that as of Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, respectively, Nguyen and Hahn were no longer employed by the department.