Alleged crime boss Michael J. Miske’s trial may be delayed as death penalty is considered

The U.S. Department of Justice wants to delay the trial of an Oahu businessman accused of leading a criminal enterprise profiting from drug dealing and participating in murder-for-hire schemes to allow time for the U.S. attorney general to decide whether he should face the death penalty.

Attorneys for Michael J. Miske and seven co-defendants agreed with the motion filed by federal prosecutors to push the start of his trial back to at least March 22 to allow time for counsel to review a broad, diverse array of evidence through the discovery process, prepare a death penalty mitigation submission and await Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision on the recommendation to seek capital punishment.

They were slated to stand trial beginning Sept. 13.

“In addition, counsel for Defendant Michael J. Miske, Jr., are continuing to work on their written death penalty mitigation submission,” wrote assistant U.S. attorneys Michael Nammar, Micah Smith and Mark A. Inciong, who are prosecuting the case for the federal government. “Meanwhile, this office has already submitted its recommendation regarding the death penalty and is awaiting a decision from the Attorney General of the United States.”

Miske was indicted last year with John B. Stancil, Kaulana Freitas, Lance L. Bermudez, Dea Han Moon, Preston M. Kimoto, Harry K. Kauhi, Norman L. Akau III, Hunter J. Wilson and Jarrin K. Young and accused of conspiring with his co-defendants to run the “Miske Enterprise” through racketeering activity including murder, kidnapping, arson and robbery, according to DOJ.

The indictment, and a superseding indictment unsealed last summer, also alleges murder-for-hire; the use of chemical weapons; extortionate credit transactions; racketeering; interference with commerce through robbery and extortion; methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis trafficking; wire fraud; fraud in connection with identification documents; financial institution fraud; violations of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act; money laundering; and obstruction of justice.

Miske was also indicted for his role in the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser in July 2016.

Miske believed Fraser’s murder was revenge for Miske’s “mistaken belief” that Fraser was the driver of a vehicle involved in a two-vehicle collision in November 2015 that took the life of Miske’s son, Caleb-­Jordan Keanu Miske-Lee, who died March 2016 from injuries sustained in the crash, according to a July filing in U.S. District Court. Fraser was last seen at his Hawaii Kai apartment on July 30, 2016. He was never found.

The chemical weapons allegations against Miske, Stancil and Freitas stem from a March 2017 incident where the trio allegedly conspired to release a chemical weapon, chloropicrin, into two Honolulu nightclubs, according to federal prosecutors.

Chloropicrin is a colorless to faintly yellow oily liquid that is an irritant with characteristics of a tear gas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wilson already pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate racketeering law and conspiring to possess quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone and cannabis, with intent to distribute, and is not subject to the outcome of the motion.

Attorneys representing Michael J. Buntenbah, who was indicted for conspiracy to commit assaults in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and Young indicated that their clients do not join in the motion and might oppose it, according to the court filing.

Miske’s attorneys — Thomas M. Otake, Lynn E. Panagakos, and Michael N. Burt, who was appointed by the court for his experience in handling capital cases — did not respond to phone calls and emails from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser seeking comment.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Judith A. Philips and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nammar, Smith and Inciong declined comment.

“Counsel for the Moving Defendants have indicated that they need additional time to review discovery, consider and file possible pretrial motions, confer with and competently advise their clients, and prepare for the trial itself. Their request is reasonable in light of the nature of the charges in this case and the scope of discovery,” the assistant U.S. attorneys wrote. “As the government previously explained in its motion to declare the case as complex, this case involves defendants who are collectively charged with racketeering conspiracy, various acts of violence, chemical weapon attacks, firearms offenses, drug trafficking, and bank fraud. The racketeering conspiracy is alleged to have included a wide variety of criminal activities, ranging from acts involving murder, kidnapping, and arson to wire fraud, fraud in connection with identification documents, and obstruction of justice.”

Attorneys for Miske have said they need significant time to review the evidence collected from an investigation that spans an undisclosed number of years.

“The Miske criminal enterprise was identified several years ago by the FBI along with federal and local partners, who have worked tirelessly to stop it. Investigations into sophisticated criminal organizations like this one take time and patience,” said Eli S. Miranda, then-special agent in charge of the FBI’s Honolulu division, during a July news conference.

The evidence includes court-authorized Title III wiretap interceptions of wire and electronic communications; forensic extractions of multiple cellphones; audio and video recordings from controlled purchases of drugs; evidence gathered from search warrants at physical locations and social media accounts; the laboratory testing of controlled substances; the pen register and trap-and-trace toll records of numerous phones; cooperating sources and cooperating witnesses; physical surveillance that law enforcement conducted in coordination with the Title III wiretap interceptions and during controlled purchases of drugs, among other things; and voluminous financial and business records, according to the court filing.

The enterprise allegedly used Miske’s various businesses to conceal and further their illegal activities.

Those included Kama­‘aina Termite and Pest Control Inc., Oahu Termite & Pest Control Inc., Kama‘aina Holdings LLC, Hawaii Partners LLP, Kama‘aina Plumbing and Home Renovations, Kama‘aina Energy LLC, Makana Pacific Development LLC and the Encore Nightclub.

In a motion filed July 15, the Department of Justice alleged that Miske is the “unquestioned leader of a racketeering enterprise which routinely committed violent crimes and assaults and used threats and intimidation to protect the illegal activities which enriched and furthered the interests of Miske and the enterprise.”