There were a couple of surprises in yesterday morning’s change of plea hearing in which Preston Kimoto, a former manager at both Kamaaina Termite and, later, Oahu Termite, entered a guilty plea to a single charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping using a facility of interstate commerce, which in this case was a cell phone. My story on the hearing was posted at Civil Beat late Monday afternoon (“Latest Plea Deal In Miske Case Reveals New Details About 2017 Kidnapping“).

The kidnapping was requested by a friend or acquaintance of Kimoto who was trying to collect a $900,000 debt owed to her father by a former business partner.

You may recall that Kimoto, who had been free on $50,000 bond since soon after his indictment and arrest in July 2020, was rearrested in April for threatening a witness to the kidnapping he was charged with.

Kimoto was one of Mike Miske’s original ten co-defendants, and is #7 to plead guilty and begin cooperating with prosecutors. Two additional defendants were added in a later superseding indictment. The remaining group is made up of Miske, John Stancil (Miske’s half-brother), Dae Han Moon (already serving a life sentence for the murder of Stevie Feliciano at Ala Moana Center on Christmas 2016), Jarrin Young, Delia Fabro-Miske (who was married to Mike Miske’s late son, Caleb, and later was, at least on paper, made the owner of most of Miske’s businesses), and Jason Yokoyama (Miske’s partner and, again at least on paper, the majority owner of the M Nightclub, a fiction to allow Miske to run the business despite being a convicted felon).

So, the surprises.

First, he got a very good deal. In exchange for pleading guilty to kidnapping, prosecutors dropped two charges, racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking conspiracy. The latter, as I point out in the story, is one of those charges defendants fear, because it carries a mandatory ten year minimum sentence. Prosecutors also agreed not to pursue additional charges for the witness tampering offense, and offered a 1-level reduction from the sentencing guidelines because Kimoto “took responsibility” and saved the government from having to continue trial preparations in his case.

Second, Kimoto’s testimony places Miske in the middle of the kidnapping plot. Elements of his story are apparently supported by text messages, surveillance video, and other evidence, as well as corroborating testimony by at least one or two other conspirators. The importance of this testimony in strengthening the case against Miske likely explains the “good deal” part of the plea agreement.

And, third, Kimoto added a new bit of information. His plea agreement says Miske asked for and received a 10% “fee” for arranging the kidnapping and attempted extortion, even though it was not successful in the original goal of collecting the debt. The 10% fee of approximately $90,000 was paid in installments over a period of about six months.

I have a couple of guesses. First, I imagine there are records tracing the $90,000 that was paid to Miske. Second, I am guessing there is an undisclosed reason that Kimoto resorted to threatening a witness at this time. Of course, it could just be that the pressure builds as the trial gets nearer. But I suspect that Miske, or someone close to him, could have set the witness tampering in motion, as he appears to have the most to lose with the possible life sentence.

In any case, wander over to Civil Beat and check it out.