The trial in the case of Michael J. Miske, Jr. and seven remaining co-defendants is scheduled for April 2023.
This is the fourth installment of the stories published since I first heard Mike Miske’s name back in 2017.
I posted the third installment back last September, and the next time I thought of updating, it seemed to me that there hadn’t been much going on. Now, more than a year later, YIKES! This is going to be a long list, with more than 50 blog posts and Civil Beat stories published since then.
This list is in chronological order. Links to the first three parts of this list appear at the bottom of this post.
September 15 – December 31, 2021
“One Miske Defendant Gets Out On Bail, Another Ordered To Remain Behind Bars,” Civil Beat, Sept 17, 2021
“Miske business partner to be released to home detention,” iLind.net, Sept 17, 2021
“The Miske Case: Former Kaneohe Biker Bar Operator Pleads Guilty,” Civil Beat, Sept 20, 2021
“Another plea deal related to the Mike Miske case,” iLind.net, Sept 20, 2021
“Miske Attorneys Ask For Trial To Be Delayed Another Six Months,” Civil Beat, Oct 22, 2021
“Another delay in the trial of accused gang leader Mike Miske and co-defendants seems likely,” iLind.net, Oct 22, 2021
“Legal maneuvering as Miske case drags on in court,” iLind.net, Nov 4, 2021
“State charges against Miske co-defendant tossed out by judge,” iLind.net, Dec 3, 2021
“Another defendant in Miske racketeering case seeking release on bond,” iLind.net, Dec 11, 2021
“Another Miske Case Defendant Released Pending Trial,” Civil Beat, Dec 20, 2021
“Half of Miske’s co-defendants have now been granted release from federal detention,” iLind.net, Dec 20, 2021
“Miske Defense Says It Isn’t Getting Key Evidence Against Him,” Civil Beat, Dec 28, 2021
““Discovery” issues continue to trigger complaints from Miske’s attorneys,” iLind.net, Dec 28, 2021
“A quick look at some of what searches of Miske’s properties disclosed,” iLind.net, Dec 30, 2021
January – June 2022
“Kauhi’s Guilty Plea Strengthens The Conspiracy Case Against Mike Miske,” Civil Beat, Jan 6, 2022
“Prosecutors bag another guilty plea by Miske Enterprise insider,” iLind.net, Jan 7, 2022
“A Hawaii Kai home owned by Mike Miske is being sold,” iLind.net, Jan 9, 2022
“Miske’s Hawaii Kai Home Is For Sale, But He’s Unlikely To Get The Proceeds,” Civil Beat, Jan 9, 2022
“Civil Beat Law Center intervenes again opposing unnecessary secrecy in Miske case,” iLind.net, Jan 11, 2022
“Sale of Miske property in Hawaii Kai completed,” iLind.net, Feb 24, 2022
“You can’t please everyone….,” iLind.net, Feb 28, 2022
“Two more Miske co-defendants expected to flip,” iLind.net, March 8, 2022
“Bad Blood Between Crime Boss And His Son’s Friend Started Over Stolen Watch, Plea Says,” Civil Beat, Mar 10, 2022
“A tale of Mike Miske’s gold Rolex,” iLind.net, Mar 10, 2022
““Defend Hawaii” owner pleads guilty in Miske racketeering case,” iLind.net, Mar 17, 2022
“Will rejection of plea deal in Kauai case impact the Miske Enterprise negotiations?” iLind.net, Mar 25, 2022
“Miske co-defendant, already free on bond, seeks release from GPS monitoring,” iLind.net, March 29, 2022
“The ‘Miske Enterprise’: Trial For The Accused Crime Boss Is Being Postponed Again,” Civil Beat, April 1, 2022
“Miske trial pushed back to April 2023,” iLind.net, April 4, 2022
“Woman snared in Miske-related drug bust to be sentenced,” iLind.net, April 10, 2022
“FBI Arrests Miske Witness After Waianae Harbor Confrontation,” Civil Beat, April 20, 2022
“Waianae harbor incident leads to arrest of man linked to the Mike Miske case,” iLind.net, April 20, 2022
“A conspiracy is an agreement,” iLind.net, April 27, 2022
“Miske co-defendant asks for end to home detention,” iLind.net, May 2, 2022.
“Court approves fewer restrictions for Miske business partner,” iLind.net, May 5, 2022
“Another drug dealer linked to Miske group pleads guilty,” iLind.net, May 16, 2022
July-October 6, 2022
“Recent court activity in the case of Mike Miske and his co-defendants,” iLind.net, July 5, 2022
“Six years since Johnny Fraser was kidnapped and murdered,” iLind.net, July 31, 2022
“Another Miske co-defendant wants out of detention,” iLind.net, Aug 13, 2022
“The Miske Case Has Become One Of The Most Complex Prosecutions In The Country,” Civil Beat, Aug 16, 2022
“Miske co-defendants who flip are not getting off scot-free,” iLind.net, Aug 17, 2022
“Miske has been in federal detention for 25 months since his arrest in July 2020,” iLind.net, Aug 25, 2022
“Breaking news: Another Miske co-defendant decides to plead guilty,” iLind.net, Aug 25, 2022
“Prosecutors say the evidence supports keeping this Miske co-defendant behind bars until trial,” iLind.net, Aug 29, 2022
“Judge turns down request by Miske co-defendant for increased computer access,” iLind.net, Sept 2, 2022
“Another Key Player In The Miske Conspiracy Case Has Made A Deal With Prosecutors,” Civil Beat, Sept 8, 2022
“The “Hammah” falls,” iLind.net, Sept 8, 2022
“Continued secrecy of Miske-related search warrants being challenged,” iLind.net, Sept 19, 2022
“Search warrants reveal more about alleged crimes of the Miske Enterprise,” iLind.net, Sept 27, 2022
“Newly Unsealed Documents In Miske Case Tell A Grisly Tale Of Kidnap, Torture And Murder,” Civil Beat, Sept 27, 2022
“Jake Smith admitted to providing “muscle” to the Miske Enterprise,” iLind.net, Sept 29, 2022
“The Miske Files: A Robbery Gone Bad In Kailua Ends In A Death,” Civil Beat, Oct 3, 2022
“Botched robberies and stabbing death tied to drug debt,” iLind.net, Oct 3, 2022
A look back at my reporting on the Miske case
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ian,
It looks like you have collected enough material for a one season 10-12 episode Mini-Series. “True Crime in Paradise.”
The brutality, violence and murder is coupled with a total breakdown of law enforcement by the Keoloas’ complete perversion of the Honolulu Police Department and Prosecutors office. It’s too big a story for the pathetic Star Advertiser and Happy Talk Hawaii Hews Now.
The Miske Organized Crime family is as violent as the worst Mafia gangs anywhere. How did they survive and prosper in Honolulu without help? Let’s not forget Keith Kaneshiro. It’s a great story that has to be told to make sure Honolulu cleans up.
Dear MK, I SO agree with your statements. This case/person MIske, is not the only crime game in town. Being the ‘crossroads of the Pacific’ Hawaii is a diamond mine for any organized crime group. And they are ALL active in the islands. From Japan, Russia, Robt DeNiro’s bunch (lol). Cryps and Bloods and who knows who else? Then … the police and the system. We can only watch. What a view dear Ian gives us.
Looks like a book in the making there Ian, if not having already been started.
Wish you all the best!
It’s great that somebody is keeping close tabs on this saga and airing the nitty gritty so readers can stay informed and get a look at Honolulu’s grimy underbelly.
That being said, this is really a bunch of lowbrow thugs, some with grandiose ambitions that far outpaced their intellectual capacity.
Yes, they’ve been mean and violent and deadly. But any notion that they’re anywhere near the level of East Coast organized crime families or West Coast street gangstas is plainly absurd and needs a reality check.
These beefwits were able to carry on here in large part due to the absence of serious gangland competition. In another venue, they would have been laughed at and shut down in a day if they stepped on the wrong toes. These are crooked businessmen, fringe bikers and gym rats, NOT apex predators.
It’s a lot more interesting to ponder the extent to which law enforcement failures or corruption may have influenced their operational space.
That’s a story still waiting to be told.
I agree. These people are evil clowns. If Ian the Great Raker of Muck should look into the failures and corruption that allowed this stuff to happen I would read every word he writes.
Agree. In a one horse town like HNL, Miske’s adventures surely would not have been top secret and the police would definitely have heard and known what was happening. After all, wasn’t that the job description of da Chief’s “special elite unit” of mailbox stealers, after all? Question is, how many in HPD were enablers, business partners or accomplices?
The crimes Ian has detailed for us have all been played out before on television shows like “The Sopranos” (drug dealing, loan sharking, racketeering). In fact, I’m convinced Miske was inspired by that hit show that ran for six seasons.
If there is going to be a big plot twister, it will happen when Miske cooperates with the Feds and provides evidence that he used Katherine Kealoha for protection.
It would have to go higher to get any credit. Kealoha has already been convicted. But there are hints… https://www.ilind.net/2021/08/08/why-was-a-federal-watchdog-part-of-the-miske-investigation/