A member of an alleged Hawaii crime lord’s organization entered into a plea agreement with the federal government on Thursday, acknowledging a role in murder for hire schemes, racketeering, and robbery.
It is unclear what Harry K. “Harry Boy” Kauhi gave and received from the U.S. Department of Justice in exchange for pleading guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of Hobbs Act robbery as part of the case against Honolulu businessman Michael J. Miske and the “Miske Enterprise.”
Miske was indicted in 2020 with John B. Stancil, Kaulana Freitas, Lance L. Bermudez, Dea Han Moon, Preston M. Kimoto, 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.
Kauhi faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 for each count. The Hobbs Act prohibits robbery, attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce “in any way or degree,” according to the Justice Department.
From 2015 until about June 2020 Kauhi and others were members of crew headed by Miske. Miske allegedly used his “reputation for violence in the community, and the various corporate entities under his control to enrich the members and associates of the Miske Enterprise and to protect their criminal activities,” according to the change of plea agreement.
At various times in 2016 and 2017 Kauhi and others were “offered contracts to commit and/or facilitate murder by Michael J. Miske and engaged in attempts to commit those murders,” according to federal court documents.
In 2016, Kauhi, Stancil, Moon, Jacob “Jake” Smith, Wayne Miller and Bermudez participated in a murder-for-hire conspiracy targeting a Waimanalo man. Miske believed the man was cooperating with law enforcement, according to DOJ.
Miller was tasked with finding the hitman and recruited Kauhi to do the killing, according to court documents. Kauhi agreed to do a “home run”, i.e. murder the Waimanalo man, identified by the government as “Victim-1” and took several thousand dollars in payment from Miske via Miller in advance — but did not kill anyone.
In 2017, Akau and Miller accepted an offer from Miske to kill a man identified as “Victim-12” for $50,000, according to court documents. Akau placed a GPS tracking device on “Victim-12“‘s vehicle. Kauhi drove Akau on several occasions as they followed the target while he drove to and from work. Kauhi was behind the wheel when Akau and Miller followed the man to a plate lunch restaurant on Sand Island. Akau had a pistol and was going to shoot the man when he walked out of the restaurant before Miller stopped him, according to DOJ, because the GPS device was still attached to the target’s vehicle.
Also in 2017, Miske wanted “Victim-2” killed because the individual “disrespected him on social media,” according to court documents.
Miske, Stancil and Smith all traveled to Kualoa Ranch where “Victim-2” was working and confronted the individual before Smith fired a single shot, missing the target. After the shooting, Kauhi and Smith got rid of the guns by giving them to another person to dispose of, according to court documents.
Kauhi’s attorney, Mark R. Zenger, did not reply to a Star-Advertiser request for comment.
Assistant U.S. attorneys Michael Nammar, Micah Smith, and Mark Inciong handled the agreement for the Justice Department but did not respond to requests for comment about Kauhi’s plea deal.
Miske’s trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9. His attorney, Thomas M. Otake, declined comment.
Kimoto, Michael Buntenbah, Jason Yokoyama, Delia Fabro-Miske, Hunter Wilson, and Freitas are free on bond pending trial. Wilson accepted a plea agreement and admitted his role in the conspiracy and selling methamphetamine.
Akau and Kauhi agreed to plead guilty and remain in custody. There are no publicly filed plea agreements for Kimoto, Buntenbah, Yokoyama, Fabro-Miske, or Freitas, according to the Justice Department.
As part of Akau’s June 2020 plea agreement, he acknowledged the Sand Island job and detailed two other incidents.
In 2016, Miske, through Miller, offered Akau $50,000 to kidnap Jonathan Fraser and take him to the North Shore where another person would kill him, according to Akau’s plea agreement. After mulling over Miske’s offer, he declined the contract because Fraser was a “kid.”
Miske was also indicted for his role in the kidnapping and murder of the then 21-year-old Fraser in July 2016.
Miske believed Fraser’s murder was revenge for Miske’s “mistaken belief,” according to DOJ, that Fraser was the driver of a vehicle involved in a two-vehicle collision in November 2015 that killed Miske’s son, Caleb-Jordan Keanu Miske-Lee. Caleb died March 2016 from injuries sustained in the crash.
In 2016, Akau joined Kauhi, Smith, Bermudez, Jacob “Jake” Smith, and Ashlin Akau to rob an alleged methamphetamine dealer, according to Akau’s plea agreement.
Akau was in one of two vehicles tailing the dealer on North School Street and was dressed as a plainclothes police officer.
After forcing the dealer to stop his car, Akau got out of his vehicle, flashed a badge he got while working on the set of “Hawaii 5-0” and ordered the driver to stand against a nearby telephone poll. Akau was armed with a .38 caliber pistol and had a .22 caliber handgun equipped with a silencer in his backpack. Akau took a blue Walmart bag out of the car’s trunk that contained several pounds of methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Akau later divided the drugs up among his crew, according to court documents. He will plead guilty to conspiring to violate racketeering laws.
The Justice Department did not respond to a question about whether any of those out on bail or those who entered into plea agreements are cooperating with the government’s ongoing investigation of Miske’s alleged enterprise.
