I keep finding interesting little vignettes included in the pending series of motions filed by attorneys representing Michael Miske.

Miske, the former owner of Kamaaina Termite & Pest Control, M Nightclub, and a number of other related businesses, faces trial in early January, along with three remaining co-defendants, on charges that they were members or associates of a racketeering conspiracy that Miske controlled and directed. Each also faces additional substantive charges, with Miske facing the possibility of a life sentence.

In this series of motions, Miske and the other defendants are asking to have certain evidence excluded from use by prosecutors during the trial based on their interpretation of the legal rules of evidence.

This particular motion (Joint Motion in Limine #9) decribes a home invasion robbery that took place at 12:40 a.m. on August 24, 2016.

On August 24, 2016 at or near 12:40 am, [the victims] were asleep in their home in Kaneohe when they were awoken by three men dressed in black with white masks. One of the three men carried a military style AR-15 type rifle which he butt struck Mr. Ota in the head. Two gold colored rope chains valued at $18,000, 4 iPhones and a lanyard with car keys were stolen. Mr. Ota recognized the voice of government witness Hunter Wilson during the robbery as Wilson had been a recent roommate at the house between June and August. Government witness Jacob Smith was armed with an AR-15. Government witness Lance Bermudez was also armed as was the third robber. Smith and Bermudez and Wilson claim that marijuana and prescription drug, Xanax, were stolen. Despite the voice recognition by the crime victim, Smith, Bermudez and Wilson claim that James Salas was the third robber not Wilson. [Page citations omitted]

This robbery stands out due to the estimated $18,000 value of the gold chains that were taken, and all three robbers were armed. It was allegedly just one of several armed robberies of drug dealers allegedly carried out by members or associates of Miske’s organization and, according to prosecutors, operating under its protection.

In his plea agreement, Wilson admitted the August 24 robbery resulted from information he had provided to Smith about a dealer who had drugs and would be a good target for a robbery. He told Smith where the dealer lived and which door to use to enter the residence.

The motion says Bermudez and Smith were both members of the La Familia Gang, and that Hunter Wilson was a drug dealer “who was selling drugs with the permission of North Shore Boys gang member Kelli [sic] Young.”

“A gang member home invasion robbery at gunpoint is an affair of La Familia, not the fictional, so-called Miske Enterprise. The La Familia gang members Bermudez and Smith (together with drug dealer Wilson) each robbed for themselves, and their gang, not the fictional, so-called Miske enterprise,” the motion states.

In other words, they argue, Miske had nothing to do with it, and evidence of the robbery should not be presented at trial.

Whether or not the evidence will be allowed is a legal matter that will be determined at a December 8 hearing at which Judge Derrick Watson will hear arguments on a long list of evidentiary motions.

However, Smith, Bermudez, and Wilson have previously pleaded guilty and admitted being associated with Miske’s organization.

Smith was recruited in 2015 by John Stancil, Miske’s half-brother, “to commit robberies of drug dealers with other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise,” according to factual admissions in Smith’s plea agreement filed in federal court.

At some point “in or around 2016,” Smith arranged for Miske to meet Bermudez, known as “Hammah”, at Miske’s request, allegedly prompted by Bermudez’s reputation as a “shooter.”

The three met face-to-face at the Kamehameha Shopping Center in Kalihi, “where Miske expressed his interest in having Victim-1 killed,” according to Smith’s plea agreement. Victim-1, who has not been identified, has been described as a Waimanalo man who at one time had been involved in drug dealing with Miske in the past, and who Miske believed was now providing information to law enforcement.

Smith and Bermudez allegedly also played a role in the conspiracy that led to the disappearance and apparent murder of Jonathan Fraser, who vanished suddenly on July 30, 2016, just a few weeks before the alleged home invasion (“Newly Unsealed Documents In Miske Case Tell A Grisly Tale Of Kidnap, Torture And Murder“). However, neither man faces charges directly related to Fraser’s disappearance.

James Salas, whose role in August 2016 the home invasion is disputed, provided information to federal agents in December 2016 regarding the involvement of Smith and Bermudez in Fraser’s disapperance, although he reportedly recanted several of his most lurid claims before finally passing a lie detector test.

Salas was fatally beaten while being held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in December 2019. His alleged assailants were affiliated with the La Familia gang. Salas had been a member of La Familia, according to his posts on Instagram, but had later withdrew from the gang.

Wilson pleaded guilty on May 6, 2021, as part of a plea greement. He admitted being part of Miske’s alleged racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracies. He faces a minimum 10-year sentence on the drug charge, and up to 20 years on the racketeering charge.

“Among the individuals with whom Wilson worked to distribute methamphetamine were Jacob “Jake” Smith, Nicholas “Nico” Carignan, Timothy Taboada and Jarrin K. Young as evidenced by Title III wiretap interceptions from electronic surveillance conducted in 2018 on cellular phones controlled and used by Wilson and others,” according to the plea agreement.

Carignan, and Taboada, and Young have also previously pleaded guilty, and are each on the list of potential trial witnesses, along with Bermudez and Smith.

With multiple participants having already pleaded guilty and apparently ready to testify that despite an affiliation with La Familia, Smith, Bermudez, Salas, and perhaps others, were also members or associates of the Miske organization, it would appear Miske’s attorneys will have a hard time excluding evidence based simply on their claimed gang affiliation. But it’s a legal question that will hopefully be settled soon.

[This post has been edited to remove identifying information about a victim at his request (2-19-2026)]