A 30-year old Kailua woman, Ashlin Akau, has become the 6th person known to have cut a deal with prosecutors and agree to testify against former Honolulu businessman Mike Miske and others allegedly involved in the activities of his criminal gang. Last week, she pleaded guilty to releasing a dangerous chemical in a Kakaako nightclub in 2017. A copy of her plea agreement with prosecutors, which provides details of the attack, was filed in federal court.
Miske, the owner of several local businesses, including Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, and the M Nightclub, which briefly operated as the Encore Nightclub, is currently being held in Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center facing multiple charges stemming from his alleged control of a criminal gang engaged in a broad racketeering conspiracy.
Jacob “Jake” Smith, the man who recruited Akau and drove her to the club on the night of the attack, was a member of Mike Miske’s gang who also flipped and cut his own deal with prosecutors in November 2020. He says Miske ordered the attack to drive customers to his own nightclub nearby.
I have an article published at CivilBeat.org today based on factual admissions contained in Akau’s plea agreement with prosecutors, along with context provided by previous documents filed in federal court.
Here’s the beginning of my story:
Honolulu businessman Michael J. Miske Jr., in federal custody awaiting trial on charges of controlling a criminal racketeering conspiracy, allegedly directed one of his associates to arrange an attack on a Kakaako nightclub by releasing a toxic chemical on a crowded dance floor, agreed to pay the associate $3,000, then checked in by phone and even appeared at the scene before the attack to be sure the plot was going as planned.
The previously undisclosed details of the 2017 chemical attack on the Ginza Night Club in Kakaako are contained in a 19-page plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu last week.
Read: “Plea Agreement Details How Miske Allegedly Ordered A Chemical Attack On Rival Nightclub,” Civil Beat, March 23, 2021.
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Miske is deservedly getting ratted out from all sides. May he serve a long, long sentence.
I’d love for a journo to follow the Miske-Trevor Ozawa connection as well. THAT would be compelling reading!
Thanks Ian!
Has it come out yet how the Termite gang was able to imitate law enforcement during their kidnappings and robberies of other drug dealers? Did the badges come from their work on a certain law enforcement show? Since they were the drivers for the movies, were the police vehicles used to commit crimes?
Need to do a story on Hawaii’s largest gambling case that was thrown out of court. How does a 400 + count on racketeering and gambling etc just get thrown out?