Eleven defendants charged in Hawaii federal court with racketeering and other offenses

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Kenji M. Price, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, Eli S. Miranda, Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Tom Murdock, Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Josh Allen, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigative Division (“EPA-CID”), Lucia Cabral-Dearmas, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Aaron Joseph, Regional Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment today charging MICHAEL J. MISKE, JR., and 10 other defendants with racketeering conspiracy and other offenses. The Superseding Indictment includes charges against MISKE for his role in the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser in July 2016.

A prior Indictment, which charged MISKE and another defendant with participation in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, was also unsealed today.

Eight of the defendants were arrested today. One defendant has not been arrested and remains at large. Two of the defendants, LANCE BERMUDEZ and DAE HAN MOON, were already in state custody. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Derrick K. Watson.

As alleged in the Superseding Indictment unsealed today in Hawaii federal court[1]:

From at least in or about the late 1990s, up to and including the date of the Superseding Indictment, MICHAEL J. MISKE, JR., aka “Bro,” JOHN B. STANCIL, KAULANA FREITAS, aka “Shorty,” LANCE L. BERMUDEZ, aka “Hammah,” DEA HAN MOON, aka “Dayday,” PRESTON M. KIMOTO, HARRY K. KAUHI, aka “Harry Boy,” NORMAN L. AKAU III, HUNTER J. WILSON, and JARRIN K. YOUNG, the defendants, and others known and unknown, conspired to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, the “Miske Enterprise,” through a pattern of racketeering activity. The racketeering activity included acts involving murder, kidnapping, arson, and robbery. It also included acts relating to murder-for-hire, chemical weapons, extortionate credit transactions, racketeering, interference with commerce through robbery and extortion, drug trafficking, wire fraud, fraud in connection with identification documents, financial institution fraud, the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

From at least in or about March 2016 and continuing to on or about July 30, 2016, MISKE conspired with others to kidnap and murder 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser. In March 2016, MISKE instructed a co-conspirator to develop a plan for kidnapping and murdering Fraser, and told that co-conspirator that he/she could name the price for carrying out the murder. In or about June 2016, MISKE arranged for the purchase of a Boston Whaler vessel that could be used to dump Fraser’s body into the ocean after Fraser was kidnapped and killed. On or about July 30, 2016, Fraser was kidnapped and killed. On that same day, another of MISKE’s co-conspirators took Fraser’s significant other on a “spa day,” thereby ensuring that Fraser and his significant other would be separated from each other when Fraser was kidnapped.

MISKE and other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise participated in various other acts of violence:

• In or about 2016, MISKE, STANCIL, BERMUDEZ, MOON, and KAUHI conspired to commit the murder-for-hire of an individual (“Victim-1”) whom MISKE suspected of cooperating with law enforcement.
• On or about May 23, 2017, MISKE and STANCIL attempted to cause the death of another person (“Victim-2”) and committed an assault of Victim-2, and did so using at least one firearm.
• From the late 1990s and continuing to in or about 2018, MISKE, STANCIL, BUNTENBAH, and others known and unknown, conspired to commit assaults in aid of racketeering.
• In or about October 2017, MISKE, KIMOTO, and others known and unknown conspired to kidnap another person (“Victim-3”) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two of MISKE’s co-conspirators, acting on MISKE’s instructions, kidnapped Victim-3 in Honolulu and restrained him/her in their vehicle.
• In or about 2016, STANCIL, BERMUDEZ, KAUHI, and AKAU participated in a gunpoint robbery of another person (“Victim-4”) during which they robbed Victim-4 of methamphetamine.
• On or about August 24, 2016, BERMUDEZ and WILSON participated in a gunpoint robbery of another person (“Victim-5”) during which they robbed Victim-5 of controlled substances.

In or about March 2017, MISKE, STANCIL, and FREITAS, and others known and unknown, conspired to release a chemical weapon, namely, chloropicrin, into nightclubs in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of this conspiracy, chloropicrin was released into two different nightclubs.

Multiple defendants conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana.

Between on or about April 21, 2017 and July 3, 2017, MISKE and others participated in a scheme to defraud Bank of Hawaii through the preparation and submission of materially false documents as part of loan applications.

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Charts containing the name, ages, charges, and maximum penalties for the defendants are set forth below. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Price praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, IRS-CI, EPA-CID, HSI, and ATF. He also thanked the Honolulu Police Department for the work of personnel who participated in this matter in their role as Task Force Officers with the FBI, and thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team, and the Office of Investigations–Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Nammar, Micah Smith, and Mark A. Inciong are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marion Percell is in charge of the forfeiture component of the case.

The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Superseding Indictment constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.