On Tuesday afternoon, one of the bit players in the ongoing Mike Miske prosecution is scheduled to be sentenced.

Catherine Nicole Zapata, 28, was arrested on August 14, 2018, along with two others, Timothy Taboada and Jacob “Jake” Smith. All three were initially charged with dealing, or posessing with intent to distribute, methamphetamine. Zapata was later charged via an “Information” with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and pleaded guilty to the charge in November 2019.

According to an affidavit by an FBI agent filed in support of the criminal charges, Taboada was identified by a confidential source as a Kaneohe-based drug dealer who was observed picking up drugs from Smith, which he then sold to the confidential source while under FBI surveillance.

In a separate incident, Zapata drove Taboada to deliver four ounces of crystal meth to the person who later turned out to be the confidential FBI source, again while under FBI surveillance.

At the time of these offenses, Zapata was living with Taboada in Kaneohe, and later admitted she knew he was dealing meth to others in the community. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Zapata said she assisted Taboada “by, among other things, driving Taboada to meetings where the defendant knew that Taboada would be buying or selling methamphetamine.” She also assisted on occasion by packaging methamphetamine for resale.

Zapata pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute meth, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison plus at least three years of supervised release. She agreed to forfeit $21,940 in currency seized from the Ko Place residence where Zapata and Taboada were living at the time of their arrest. She admitted the money was derived from their illegal drug sales.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to seek a two-level “downward adjustment” for accepting responsibility, while Zapata agreed to cooperate by answering questions and testifying truthfully against “co-defendants and others” as requested.

The court docket shows that Zapata was approved in September 2020 to participate in the District of Hawai‘i’s Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) program, known as Kapilipono, and graduated in February 2022 with three others. Kapilipono began in October 2019 as a two-year pilot program of the US District Court in Hawaii.

It is not a pretrial diversion program, but an opportunity for the participants to demonstrate post-conviction rehabilitation at the time of their sentencing which is a factor that may support a downward variance in a sentence. The program requires weekly participation: once a month with the specialty court, once a month in a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) group, and twice a month meeting with pre-trial officers. The CBT sessions apply public health learning principles including restorative justice and solution-focused approaches. Participants learn skills that can help them desist from crime.

The goals of Kapilipono are described in an academic journal article which was just posted on April 1 (“Kapilipono: A US District of Hawai’i Specialty Court Pilot Project“).

The goals of the program include:

• Promote rehabilitation
• Promote productive and prosocial behavior
• Facilitate acceptance of responsibility for offense(s) and the
consequences to others
• Facilitate and support an individual’s intrinsic motivation to change
• Reduce recidivism and enhance community safety
• Manage taxpayer funds/resources wisely.

Meanwhile, Timothy Taboada, the dealer who Zapata was living with at the time of her arrest, pleaded guilty in November 2019 as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 120-months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate locator, Taboada is currently held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, a low security facility.

Jake Smith also pleaded guilty in November 2020 to being part of a racketeering conspiracy allegedly directed by Mike Miske, and to conspiring with others to distribute meth. He is currently being held at the Honolulu Detention Center, and is still awaiting sentencing.

Smith is expected to be a key witness if and when the racketeering case against former Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control owner, Mike Miske, and seven co-defendants, eventually goes to trial.

I described the significance of the Smith’s guilty plea in a Civil Beat article published at the time (“The Miske Case: An Insider Pleads Guilty And Is Cooperating With The Feds“).

Smith, 27, described in the plea agreement as “a skilled martial artist,” admitted he had been “on call” to commit violent assaults on victims when requested by Miske, for which he would be paid $1,500 to $2,000 per “job.” His plea agreement then outlines his participation in a series of incidents involving assaults, armed robberies, attempted murder, extortion and drug dealing.

Smith’s potential testimony, outlined in the plea agreement, ties Miske directly and personally into a pair of murder-for-hire schemes, and provides first-hand accounts of violent actions by the Miske-led criminal organization.