HONOLULU, HI—Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for Hawaii, announced that Defendant Tineimalo Adkins was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to 210 months (17 ½ years) imprisonment on November 10. On October 10, 2014, following a multiple-week trial, a jury found Adkins guilty of the crime of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity (VICAR).

According to information produced in court, on February 17, 2013, Adkins, along with other USO Family prison gang inmates, beat and assaulted another inmate, resulting in the victim suffering traumatic brain injury and multiple facial fractures and lacerations,. At the time, Adkins was the “shot caller,” for the USO Family prison gang which ordered the attack on the inmate at the Halawa Correctional Facility in order to further their power and influence within the facility.

The trial involved extensive testimony about the USO Family’s use of violence and witness intimidation to maintain their status as the most powerful prison gang within the state prison system.

In rendering the sentence, Judge Kobayashi told Adkins that the assault was “shockingly brutal,” and that “it was [his] personal status and position in the USO family that allowed [him] to design and lead this assault.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation, the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety, and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill Otake and Thomas J. Brady prosecuted this case.