Feds seek prison for wife of convicted former union boss

The wife of the former business manager of a Hawaii labor union convicted of rigging a vote to raise dues and using members’ money to live a luxurious lifestyle should spend 70 to 87 months in federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In November a federal jury found Brian Ahakuelo, 61, former elected business manager and financial secretary of the Inter­national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 1260, and his wife, Marilyn Ahakuelo, 59, guilty of one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, and 42 counts of wire fraud, which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Marilyn Ahakuelo will be sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Hellen Gillmor. Brian Ahakuelo’s sentencing was rescheduled until June 21.

The couple was also convicted of multiple counts of embezzlement of labor union assets, six counts for Brian Ahakuelo and three counts for Marilyn Ahakuelo. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

In addition to prison time outlined by the guidelines of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the government is asking Gillmor to order Ahakuelo to pay $9,686.55 in restitution and pay a “forfeiture money judgment.”

“The offense in this case caused great harm to a labor organization that has responsibility for approximately 3,000 members in Hawaii and Guam. The defendant was motivated primarily by greed, to live a ‘first class’ lifestyle at the expense of the members’ interests. The defendant has demonstrated no acceptance of responsibility. In fact, her argument for a lower offense level in her sentencing statement was essentially that she is innocent, an issue a jury has already resolved as a matter of law,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Albanese in a sentencing memorandum filed March 21. “The defendant believes she has done nothing wrong, which leads the government to believe that she would make the same decisions should she be in a similar situation in the future.”

Albanese declined further comment.

Marilyn Ahakuelo’s attorney, Rebecca S. Lester, argued that her client should get probation or no more than six months in prison like co-conspirators in the case who pleaded guilty, cooperated with the U.S. Department of Justice and received probation.

Lester wrote that Marilyn Ahakuelo has no criminal record, was not immediately arrested in the case and no evidence was presented at trial to suggest she lived a lavish lifestyle. Her husband had sole authority to set employee salaries, initiate union-funded travel and pick the group taking the trips.

Marilyn Ahakuelo, a 1981 graduate of Leilehua High School, has maintained employment throughout the federal criminal justice process and abided by all conditions of her supervised release.

“She had no authority to make any financial decisions or access to any of the union’s financial accounts. Marilyn was not responsible for obtaining Unit 4 members signatures outside of the office,” wrote Lester in her memo filed Wednesday. “Moreover, she was not responsible nor had knowledge of anything regarding the payment of the members’ dues to the union. At most, she simply was a secretary, as the government argued at trial.”

Lester did not immediately return a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment.

Marilyn Ahakuelo has “significant total assets,” including a 2016 Porsche Boxster and a 2021 Mercedes-Benz C 300, but reports a negative net worth of minus $94,993, largely as a result of significant credit card, vehicle and student loan debt.

According to court records, she and her husband filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2001.

During his time in office, Brian Ahakuelo oversaw the day-to-day operations of the union, had the authority to hire and manage staff and maintained “autonomy and complete control over the finances,” according to the Aug. 22, 2019, federal indictment.

He was accused of filling vacancies on the union’s executive board with people who had no experience and who were loyal to him, including family members. According to court documents, he paid his family excessive wages in violation of union bylaws and used members’ money to pay for his family’s personal expenses, including a $597 restaurant tab.

Brian and Marilyn Aha­kuelo spent nearly $10,000 in airfare on trips that had nothing to do with union business to Macau, Tokyo, Virginia and Las Vegas, where the couple would stay for weeks or months, according to the indictment.

Brian Ahakuelo paid $29,726 to his son-in-law, “who did little to no union work in exchange for such payments,” and used $24,594 in union dues to pay off the loan on his wife’s Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.

Ahakuelo earned a salary of $160,285 in 2012, according to records filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. By 2015 his salary had increased to $201,492. Marilyn Ahakuelo, as director of community services, earned $105,119 in 2015.

Before her husband hired her, she earned $2,513.33 a month working at Holiday Inn Express. After her husband hired her, she earned $10,046.40 a month with the union, according to federal court documents.

Local Union 1260 represents more than 3,500 electrical workers in Hawaii and on Guam.

Authorities say after depleting Local 1260’s surplus of over $700,000 in 2010 to a net deficit of over $700,000 in 2014, Brian Ahakuelo proposed a huge hike in union fees to 3% from 1.5% of wages in April 2015; 3.5% in April 2017; and 4% in April 2019.

In the indictment, the Ahakuelos and Marilyn Ahakuelo’s sister, Jennifer Estencion, were accused of falsifying election results in two of the nine bargaining units, and Marilyn Ahakuelo was accused of falsifying the minutes for the Unit 4 membership meeting to say that the January 2015 votes were 98 in favor and 11 against the dues hike, according to federal court records.

Brian Ahakuelo and Estencion were accused of rigging the Unit 9 election in Guam later that month, with Estencion accused of submitting fake ballots that indicated the resolution passed by a vote of 293-32. Four other IBEW staffers were indicted for helping to fix the outcome of the rate hike vote. Estencion was found not guilty at trial.

“The Court’s sentence should send a message that any participation in such a scheme that results in financial or reputational harm to a local labor union will result in significant punishment,” wrote Albanese.