Woman pleads guilty in meth smuggling jail case

A Honolulu woman pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday for her alleged role in a conspiracy to smuggle methamphetamine to a boyfriend through a guard at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.

Ceceliacharity Hilo, also known as “Cece Hilo” and “Cece Adams,” is one of four people charged in the conspiracy that allegedly included the help of an adult correctional officer, Richard Ascencio. Ascencio pleaded guilty to two counts, conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, on Sept. 21. He will be sentenced Jan. 3.

Ascencio was an adult corrections officer assigned to the Oahu Community Correctional Center, according to a state Department of Public Safety spokesperson. He was employed by the state for more than 20 years, from March 8, 2000, until July 23, 2020.

Hilo, through her attorney, assistant federal public defender Maximilian J. Mizono, changed her plea to guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson.

Mizono declined comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris A. Thomas, who is prosecuting the case for the government, did not immediately reply to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment.

Hilo was charged by superseding indictment on March 4, 2021, with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm by a felon and unlawful user of a controlled substance, unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm, and ammunition.

The firearm charges stems from Hilo’s alleged possession of a Colt .45 revolver and 44 rounds of ammunition.

“Ms. Hilo was charged with the Complaint as a reaction to her conduct as alleged in the Complaint and it was necessary to interrupt the long-term investigation because of a belief that she was a danger to the community,” wrote Thomas in a Feb. 24, 2021, motion. “The firearm which is the subject of Ms. Hilo’s charge is related to the matters of the long-term investigation.”

In addition to Ascencio, also accused in the conspiracy is Hilo’s boyfriend, Robert S. Gibson, and his stepsister, Keicha Brunn. Gibson is scheduled to change his plea today in the federal case.

According to federal court documents, on Dec. 10, 2019, and Feb. 7, 2020, Gibson called Hilo several times from the Oahu Community Correctional Center, through Brunn. The conversations indicated that Hilo allegedly acquired methamphetamine and was separating it for distribution.

Hilo told Gibson she was keeping “one 14,” which meant she was keeping a half-ounce for her personal use.

In other phone calls between Gibson and Brunn, Gibson told his stepsister to get his “heater,” or his “piece” or his “f—king gun,” which he told her Hilo was holding. Hilo replied through Brunn that she would not give the gun to anyone.

In the same set of calls, Gibson allegedly laid out a conspiracy and gave instructions to Hilo and Brunn about how to “acquire, package and deliver methamphetamine” with the assistance of a prison guard, Ascencio, who allegedly intended to smuggle it into OCCC for Gibson.

Gibson was found guilty in state court on May 5, 2021, with four counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery in the second degree, promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree, and impersonating a law enforcement officer in the second degree. He will be sentenced in that case on Dec. 7.

On June 16, 2020, a Honolulu police officer responded to a suspicious-circumstance call at the Kipapa Chicken Farm in Mililani and was told that two shots were fired in an area in which two females had an argument near a blue BMW. A confidential informant told the police Hilo was the shooter.

On Nov. 2, 2020, an FBI source told federal agents that Hilo was known to “be a frequent user of narcotics, specifically methamphetamine,” and was a “chronic,” someone who smokes meth regularly. The FBI informant told agents she saw Hilo in possession of a lot of methamphetamine and watched her smoke it from a glass pipe.

That same day, HPD responded to a reckless- endangerment call near Karsten Drive in Wahiawa after witnesses told police they heard a couple fighting and then saw a person they knew as Cece Adams fire a revolver into the air out of the passenger side window of a car, sending a man running in another direction, according to federal court documents.

Cece Adams is one of the aliases employed by Hilo.