Mike Buntenbah, also known as Michael Buntenbah Malone, was one of Mike Miske’s original co-defendants. He pleaded guilty two years ago, but had been released on bond pending sentencing. That ended when he assaulted a man in a Waikiki bar last month. And on Tuesday afternoon, he found out that causing that kind of trouble when you’re on probation can have serious consequences.

I sat through his bond forfeiture hearing on Tuesday. My story was posted on Civil Beat this morning (“A Bar Fight Could Cost A Former Miske Co-Defendant His Kaneohe Home / A federal judge who reviewed a video of the fight says there is no doubt that Michael Buntenbah attacked a man in a bar in January, violating the conditions of his bail“)

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered one of accused racketeering boss Michael J. Miske Jr.’s original co-defendants to forfeit a quarter-million dollar bond used to secure his release from custody following his indictment and arrest in July 2020.

Michael Buntenbah, 52, also known as Michael Buntenbah Malone, is a former mixed martial arts fighter who worked as a bouncer at Miske’s M Nightclub from at least 2012 to 2016. He is also the owner of the company that produces and distributes the Defend Hawaii line of clothing and accessories.

He was not officially employed by Miske’s nightclub, nor was he on the list of employees registered with the Honolulu Liquor Commission. Instead, prosecutors say, Buntenbah was part of a shadow group of bouncers or security staff who wore the same black uniforms as the official club staff, but worked off the books providing strong-arm services to Miske on request.

Buntenbah’s attorney, Gary Springstead, made one good point. He said the $250,000 amount of the bond is the same as the maximum fine for a racketeering conviction, although Buntenbah was charged under a section of the law for less serious violations. For example, the maximum prison sentence he faces is just three years, far less than the maximum facing most of the other defendants.

Looking back, I’ve written a lot about Buntenbah since he was indicted along with Miske back in June 2020, and arrested the following month. You can browse those earlier posts here.

One of those posts described his involvement in a 2016 assault at the M Nightclub.

Jason Yokoyama, who on paper was the owner and operator of the club, although in fact it was tightly controlled by Mike Miske, stuck to the big lie when questioned later about what took place that night.

In a sworn deposition, Yokoyama said Buntenbah and several others who were part of Miske’s special group of strong-arm bouncers did not work at the club and just happened to be there that night as customers.

Here’s part of what I wrote in a November 2021 post based on records filed in a civil lawsuit stemming from the assault (“Saved by the bell“).

Prosecutors allege Buntenbah, who was dressed as a bouncer or doorman at the time of the assault, intentionally or recklessly caused “substantial bodily injury” to Patrick Cullen and Chase Aki early in the morning of January 31, 2016.

The incident, allegedly involving Buntenbah and others believed to have been employed by the nightclub, was described in court documents filed in a civil lawsuit against the nightclub and its owner, Leverage, Inc., which federal prosecutors allege was controlled by Miske.

Buntenbah, while not admitting any wrongdoing, settled the civil lawsuit last year with a $30,000 payment by his State Farm Fire and Casualty Company.

According to the court record, Cullen and Aki were with a group of friends out celebrating on Pro Bowl weekend in a “going away” party for Cullen’s brother, Kaipo Cullen, who was preparing for a move to Seattle. The group started out at Sky Waikiki, where they split a bottle of Jack Daniels and a drank number of beers. After about three hours, they moved to Miske’s M Nightclub, arriving just after midnight, where the men reportedly had more to drink. As closing time approached, sometime around 3:30 am, Aki left to use the restroom.

As he emerged, Aki said was still adjusting his belt when he was blindsided, hit without warning and knocked to the ground, where he was pinned down, surrounded by bouncers wearing black, then kicked in the face, placed in a choke hold, hoisted to his feet while still in the choke hold, and walked out of the club, according to depositions filed in a related civil case.

“Then as soon as he let me go from the chokehold at the front door, I take two steps walking out, and then I got hit, and I got hit again from my left side.”

Aki identified Buntenbah as the person who threw the second punch, and then kept hitting him.

“We ended up falling by the bushes, and that’s when he jumped on me and kept hitting me,” Aki said in his deposition. “I was on my back, and he was on me like a full mount, and then he was just hitting me like that while I was covering.”

This is just one of several assaults acknowledged by Buntenbah in his plea agreement with prosecutors.