Hunter Wilson, who allegedly was a member or associate of the racketeering conspiracy controlled and directed by former Honolulu businessman Michael J. Miske, Jr., is scheduled to change his “not guilty” plea during a court hearing set for the Morning of May 6. He is the first of Miske’s ten co-defendants to publicly announce a plea change. Such a move is typically part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, who have likely agreed to reduce the charges against Wilson in exchange for a guilty plea, along with his cooperation in the ongoing investigation and testimony against the other defendants.

At least six others who were not charged in the Miske case have also admitted their involvement in the group’s criminal activities, entered into plea agreements, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Wilson is named in five counts of the 22-count superseding indictment made public in July 2020.

• Participating in a racketeering conspiracy, referred to in the Superseding Indictment as the “Miske Enterprise,” in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d) (Count 1);

• Conspiracy to distribute and possess, with intent to distribute: (1) 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine; (2) five kilograms or more of cocaine; (3) a quantity of oxycodone; and (4) a quantity of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(b)(1)(A), 841(b)(1)(C), and 841(b)(1)(D) (Count 16);

• Carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to the drug trafficking crime charged in Count 16, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i) (Count 17);

• Hobbs Act robbery of Victim-5, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 (Count 20);

• Carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to the crime of violence charged in Count 18 in which a firearm was brandished in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) (Count 21).

Prosecutors have alleged Wilson was “a principal figure” in an August 24, 2016 armed robbery of another drug dealer.

According to prosecutors:

In that incident, WILSON told Enterprise members that Victim-5, a known drug dealer, was in possession of drugs and a good target to be robbed. WILSON provided information as to the residence in whichVictim-5 was located and included the specific door through which Enterprise members could enter. Armed and masked Enterprise members subsequently entered the location and stole marijuana and Xanax from Victim-5.

Smith has been named as a source of methamphetamines distributed to several other dealers who have already entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors. Wilson faces 15 year mandatory sentences if convicted on the two drug charges (Count 16 & 17) alone.

Soon after his indictment and arrest, Wilson was released on $50,000 unsecured bail to a halfway house for drug rehabilitation operated by Makana O Ke Akua, Inc. (MOKA). In November 2020, his move to a different facility operated by the same organization on Hawaii Island was approved.

Ken Lawson, a former criminal defense lawyer and co-Director of the Hawai‘i Innocence Project, a law clinic of the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson Law School, predicted in an interview several weeks ago that more defendants are likely to “flip” as the trial, currently scheduled for September, gets closer.

“Everybody is pretty tight and close knit when they’re first arrested and appear in court,” Lawson said. “But the longer you sit awaiting trial, the more your priority becomes your own freedom, and the looser your connection with the others becomes. Understandably, what happens…people cut deals.”