Jason Yokoyama, a former employee turned business partner of alleged criminal gang boss Michael Miske, appears poised to be released from Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center pending trial following a decision by Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield during a a telephone hearing last Friday.

Yokoyama surrendered to authorities in July after being charged in a superseding indictment in the racketeering case against Miske, former owner of Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, M Nightclub, and other local businesses. Yokoyama had been ordered detained until trial in an August 6 hearing.

Friday’s hearing was on his attorney’s motion to reconsider that detention decision.

At the conclusion of Friday morning’s telephone hearing, Mansfield overruled objections from prosecutors and approved Yokoyama’s release to home detention in his parents’ Aiea home, where they agreed to serve as third-party custodians. The 1,400 square foot house, originally purchased in 1980, is where Yokoyama, 35, grew up.

Yokoyama’s parents, who were present during the telephone hearing along with his attorney, William “Bill” Harrison, also agreed to put up equity in their residence as collateral for his $150,000 bond.

In announcing his decision, Mansfield said the Yokoyama’s willingness to put up their home to secure the bond “gives me a basis to reconsider.”

The judge imposed a number of conditions, including GPS location tracking, with random drug and alcohol testing. Yokoyama will be required to provide a DNA sample, look for and maintain employment, and can leave the house only when looking for or at employment, and for education, doctors appointments, court appearances, and to attend church.

“It does not eliminate the risk, but it reasonably mitigates the risk,” Mansfield said. “It is not my job to eliminate all risk.”

Mansfield addressed Yokoyama directly.

“Your parents house is on the line, I know you know that,” Mansfield said. “It is critically important to follow every one of these conditions to the letter. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Yokoyama answered.

Mansfield said his decision was supported by an updated report by the court’s pretrial services office, which concluded Yokoyama could be released with appropriate conditions and restrictions.

However, it’s not yet a done deal. Within hours, prosecutors appealed Mansfield’s decision directly to Judge Derrick Watson, who is in charge of the overall case. The appeal simply reasserts arguments the government made unsuccessfully during Friday’s hearing.

Mansfield’s release order came just 48 hours after he turned down a similar bid for freedom by Mike Miske’s younger brother and co-defendant, John Stancil.

Miske and ten original co-defendants were indicted in June 2020 for allegedly being associated with a racketeering enterprise which Miske controlled and directed over two decades. Prosecutors allege Miske used his legitimate businesses as cover for a wide array of criminal activities, from extortion, bank fraud, money laundering, and drug trafficking to assault, kidnapping, and murder.

Yokoyama and Delia Fabro Miske, who had been married to Mike Miske’s late son, were added as co-defendants in the recent superseding indictment, which also dropped two of the original defendants who have already pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors.

Prior to Mansfield’s ruling, Harrison sparred verbally with Assistant US Attorney Mark Inciong, who spoke for prosecutors.

Harrison argued that several factors supported Yokoyama’s request for release on bond, including his lack of any criminal history, lack of history of drug or alcohol abuse, prior military service and honorable discharge, his parents’ willingness to offer their residence to secure his bond, and the fact that he returned from the mainland and surrendered to authorities as soon he was notified of the charges against him.

Harrison argued these factors combine to set forth “a very convincing factual scenario” supporting release on bond until trial.

Inciong responded that during Yokoyama’s initial detention hearing in July, “the government clearly demonstrated he was both a flight risk and danger to the community,” and that pledging the Yokoyama family home as collateral does not significantly increase protection for the public.

Inciong then cited three primary factors to justify continued detention. First, he pointed to the nature of the most serious allegations against Yokoyama, highlighting his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser in 2016. The government alleges two cooperating witnesses have said he was involved in the planning and preparation for Fraser’s murder, and that this has been corroborated by other witnesses and as well as telephone records.

Second, Inciong said the court needs to consider Yokoyama’s close relationship with Mike Miske, and the fact he is named as trustee of Miske’s revocable living trust. The government alleges this provides him access to all of Miske’s assets and increases the risk he will try to flee.

Third, Inciong argued Yokoyama’s purchase of a yellow 2014 Lamborghini Gallardo sports car in November 2015 for $227,118 demonstrated his access to “unusually large sums of money…a primary indicator of an individual’s ability to flee from prosecution.”

Although he eventually defaulted on the loan used to purchase the vehicle, Yokoyama paid $80,000 in the down payment and monthly payments prior to the default, Inciong said.

“He had access to way more money than a typical citizen had,” Inciong said.

Harrison had a direct comeback on each of these points.

Unlike the case of John Stancil, who faces several charges which carry a presumption of continued detention that has to be overcome by the defendant in order to obtain release on bond, Yokoyama is charged with a single count of racketeering conspiracy which does not carry such a presumption.

Yokoyama is charged with a single count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison but does not include a presumption of confinement before trial.

Although the government alleges Yokoyama was one of Miske’s “most trusted confidants,” facilitated bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, and also allegedly participated in planning the kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser in 2016, he is not separately charged with any of these offenses.

Harrison, who has previously attacked the credibility of the “cooperating witnesses” who accuse Yokoyama of taking part in planning Fraser’s murder, said those unproven allegations should by law be the least important factor to be considered in the detention decision.

As a result, Harrison argued, “detention is the exception, liberty is the norm,” and the burden is on the government to justify continued detention.

Regarding Miske’s trust, Harrison said Yokoyama wasn’t aware he had been designated as a trustee. That was done without Yokoyama’s knowledge or approval, and he has not done anything relevant to the trust, Harrison said.

And Harrison underscored Yokoyama’s default on the Lamborghini loan.

“There is no sign that he has access to huge sums of money,” Harrison said. In addition, Harrison said Yokoyama had a dealer’s license at some point in this period.

State licensing records confirm the Hawaii Partners LLC held a used car dealer license. Yokoyama was one of the original partners when the company was formed in 2011, along with Miske and a third man, Richard Aqui. All three continued to be listed as officers of the company, and Yokoyama was registered as the company’s agent until that role was assigned to Delia Fabro Miske in August 2017, state business registration records show.

In addition, Yokoyama held an individual license as a motor vehicle salesman, state records show, as did Mike Miske, along with co-defendants Preston Kimoto, Norman Akau, and Kaulana Freitas.

Court records also show Yokoyama has been under financial pressure and without substantial resources for several years.

Yokoyama stopped making payments on the Lamborghini in January 2018. Court records show the car was repossessed and Yokoyama sued for the outstanding balance, resulting in a judgment against him in the amount of $149,914.76 plus post-judgment interest.

This wasn’t Yokoyama’s only outstanding debt. The owners of downtown Honolulu’s Waterfront Plaza sued and obtained a $266,758.37 judgment in July 2017 against Yokoyama and Encore Investments, which briefly operated the Encore nightclub at the same location as Miske’s M Nightclub. Prosecutors allege Encore, like M Nightclub, was actually controlled by Miske.

And in June 2021, Yokoyama was hit with another judgment for $109,664.75 for back rent after the failure of a Japanese restaurant, Izakaya Kei in Pearl City, which he and a partner had launched in 2016.

Judge Mansfield zeroed in with questions about Yokoyama’s access to the Miske trust assets before making his ruling.

He asked Inciong: “When the government highlights the defendant’s role as trustee of Mr. Miske’s trust, the implication is that he has access to funds from that trust. Is that what you’re arguing?”

“I’m curious whether the trust allows that,” Mansfield said, indicating a degree of skepticism towards the prosecution view.

In response to the direct question, Inciong demurred.

“I am not a trust attorney, and I can’t aswer as to what the mechanics would be,” Inciong responded.

“Do you know when Mr. Yokoyama was appointed trustee?” Mansfield asked.

Inciong said the trust was originally established on August 6, 2008, and it was restated on April 11, 2016, following the death of Miske’s son and only child, Caleb.

“Yokoyama was designated as trustee at both of those times,” Inciong said.

When the trust was created, Yokoyama was a 22-year old working for Miske, apparently lacking any experience or qualifications for handing the affair of the trust.

Mansfield then observed Yokoyama had been trustee for years, and certainly during the period since Miske’s original indictment in July 2020, without any evidence he had access to or made use of any trust income or assets.

Excerpts from the Miske trust agreement were filed late Friday as part of the government’s appeal of Mansfield’s ruling. The documents seem to show prosecutors misstated Yokoyama’s position in the trust.

These excerpts from the trust agreement show Miske remains the trustee of his own trust, while Yokoyama is the first of three named successor trustees, with no authority over the trust or control over its assets unless Miske resigns as trustee, is incapacitated, or dies.

A hearing on the government’s motion to revoke Mansfield’s pretrial release order has been scheduled for Thursday, September 16, at 8 am before Judge Derrick Watson. The record does not indicate whether Yokoyama’s bail will be delayed until Judge Watson rules on the government’s motion.