Two more of Michael Miske’s original ten co-defendants were sentenced this week, with each receiving three years in federal custody.

On Monday, Federal Judge Derrick Watson sentenced Buntenbah, 52, to a 36-month term of imprisonment. He had pleaded guilty in March 2022 to a single count of conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering and agreed to cooperate with the government. The charge carries a maximum 5-year prison sentence. The 36-month sentence reflects a one-level downward departure from sentencing guidelines for pleading guilty in a “timely fashion,” but Watson denied Buntenbah’s request for an additional reduction in sentence. In addition, Buntenbah was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine, and to serve an additional year on supervised release.

As part of his plea agreement, Buntenbah agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the continuing law enforcement investigation of Miske’s racketeering organization. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop two drug trafficking charges which would have each carried a 10-year minimum sentence.

Buntenbah’s sentencing had originally been scheduled in November. However, Judge Watson deferred sentencing in order to give prosecutors time to consider whether to set aside Bunetanbah’s plea agreeement and potentially pursue a longer sentence, apparently because Buntenbah was rearrested earlier this year for assaulting several men in a Waikiki restaurant/bar while free on bond pending sentencing. In the end, the government did not move to set aside the plea, and agreed to the 36-month sentence.

However, Buntenbah had already been ordered to forfeit a $250,000 mortgage on a Kaneohe property as a result of the Waikiki brawl. That decision is currently pending appeal in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The judge also recommended Buntenbah be placed in a 500-hour residential drug abuse program and substance abuse treatment program, undergo a mental health assessment and any recommended treatment, and receive vocational/education trainging.

On Wednesday morning, Preston Kimoto, 46, a former manager for Miske’s Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, was sentenced to 37 months, with an additional three years of supervised release. Judge Watson granted a sealed motion filed by prosecutors, which apparently spelled out substantial assistance Kimoto had provided the goverment, and provided an 8-level downward departure from federal sentencing guidelines.

Kimoto pleaded guilty in July 2023 to conspiracy to kidnap using a facility of interstate commerce for seeking Miske’s assistance in recovering nearly $1,000,000 that a friend’s father believed he had been cheated out of in a business investment deal. He was later arrested for threatening his friend in an attempt to prevent her from meeting with federal investigators.

Watson recommended that both men serve their sentences in Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center rather than being transferred to a facility on the U.S. mainland.

See:

“Defend Hawaii” owner pleads guilty in Miske racketeering case, iLind.net, 3/17/2022

Back Behind Bars: Miske Co-Defendant Faces New Allegation Of Witness Tampering, Civil Beat, 4/6/2023

Latest Plea Deal In Miske Case Reveals New Details About 2017 Kidnapping, Civil Beat, 7/24/2023

Trial testimony began with Count 11, a “conspiracy to commit kidnapping,” iLind.net, 1/24/2024

Former Miske Co-Defendant Is Back In Federal Custody After A Waikiki Brawl, Civil Beat, 2/6/2024

Buntenbah loses another round in court, iLind.net, 2/29/2024

The Miske Trial: Muscle And Money, Civil Beat, 3/17/2024