Category Archives: Crime

Leader of “Murder Inc” street gang pleads guilty to federal charges

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Bronson Gouveia

Bronson Gouveia, who reportedly controlled the now-notorious street gang known as Murder Inc., quietly pleaded guilty last month in a deal with federal prosecutors just weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin.

Gouveia pleaded guilty to possessing a quantity of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, drug trafficking conspiracy, and two firearms violations, including possession of a .40 caliber pistol.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop four additional charges and not to add additional charges based on information they possessed at the time of the plea deal.

One day prior to Gouveia’s scheduled plea change hearing, prosecutors noted that “the correct spelling of the defendant’s legal name is “Bronsen” (with an E),” although throughout the court record it is spelled “Bronson” (with an O).

Each of the drug charges carries a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term with a maximum of life in prison, a fine of up to $10 million, and up to five years of supervised release after completing the prison term. One charge for possessing a gun used in a drug crime, carries a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence to be served consecutive to any other sentence.

A second firearms charge for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition listed several weapons, including “(1) a short-barreled rifle, manufactured by Ambush Firearms, Model A11, Multi Caliber, bearing serial number AF000730C, and approximately 30 rounds of 5.56 caliber ammunition; and (2) a rifle, a Ruger Model Mini Thirty, bearing serial number 189-48448, with approximately 5 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition; with said firearms and ammunition…”

The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison term, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of up to three years of supervised release.

Gouveia, 47, has a long criminal history with nearly 50 arrests and 22 prior convictions, 16 of those on felony charges dating back to 1997.

Gouveia has been in custody since he was arrested in January 2019 for shooting his girlfriend in Kahaluu just two days before Christmas 2018. He was convicted of assault and firearms charges in state court for that incident and was sentenced to two 10-year terms.

The .40 caliber handgun that is the basis for one of the federal firearms charges was the weapon Gouveia used to shoot his girlfriend, court records show.

He was indicted on federal drug charges in December 2018 after a quantity of methamphetamine was found in Gouveia’s home during the investigation of the shooting. Those charges were later dismissed while Gouveia was in state custody and the federal investigation was still underway. He was again indicted on drug and gun charges by a federal grand jury in August 2022, and a superseding grand jury indictment last December piled on additional charges, including threatening a witness and her mother.

The indictment alleged he had texted a witness that “he was going to ‘cut her up slowly’ and that her ‘mom going [to] die’ for ‘ratting’ him out to law enforcement officers….”

Gouveia’s sentencing on the charges has not yet been scheduled.

Three members of Murder Inc, the street gang known by what had been Gouveia’s street name, were acquitted following a two week trial in state court this month. Despite the acquittal, information disclosed in the case suggested that Murder Inc and a second gang, known as West Side, effectively controlled their module at the Oahu Community Correctional Center according to gang rules.

Mike Miske, who was convicted last year on multiple federal charges but died while in federal custody while awaiting sentencing, was housed in the same unit of the Federal Detention Center as Gouveia, and the two reportedly communicated frequently. Further, court records show Jacob “Jake” Smith was assaulted in the Federal Detention Center by members of the West Side gang in retaliation for his testimony against Miske.

See:

“Witness In Miske Case Keeps Getting Beaten In Prison By Crime Boss’s Allies, Lawyer Says,” Civil Beat, August 4, 2024

“O?ahu Jail Killing Shines A Light On Prison Gang Mayhem,” Civil Beat, July 25, 2025

“Three Alleged Gang Leaders Found Not Guilty in Jail Beating Death,” Civil Beat, August 19, 2025

Attorney facing criminal charges is sued by a former associate

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Robert Chapman, the former managing partner of a major Honolulu law firm who was indicted in June on charges stemming from a fraudulent probate case, has now been sued by a former associate attorney who says he defrauded and defamed her while carrying out the probate fraud.

The complaint filed on behalf of Allison Yee, an associate attorney of the law firm then known as Clay Chapman Iwamura Pulice & Nervell, where where Chapman was her boss and supervising attorney until he resigned from the practice of law in lieu of discipline at the end of 2022.

Yee’s lawsuit alleges Chapman came to her in October 2018 and requested that she sign an application for informal probate of the will of Robert James Boulette, a 77-year-old Honolulu man who had died two years earlier. Chapman, her boss, made the request although Yee did not usually work on probate cases.

Yee asked to see the case file, which included the draft application Chapman had prepared, as well as what appeared to be Boulette’s will and a single supplement, or codicil. After checking the information in the application against the will itself, Yee signed the application, which was filed in court on October 24, 2018, initiating the probate of Boulette’s estate. The application designated Chapman to be appointed as Boulette’s personal representative.

The application was rejected by the court in December 2018 due to “irregularities” found in the will. However, Yee says she was not informed of the denial.

Although the application had been denied by the court, Chapman then took Yee’s name and Hawaii State Bar Association credentials, without her knowledge, and used them to create fraudulent Letters of Administration that allowed him to take control of property belonging to Boulette’s estate, including a Nuuanu condominium, and convert the property and cash to his own use.

The complaint claims Yee did not know about Chapman’s “fraudulent conduct,” including the forged changes to the will, or Chapman’s creation and use of fraudulent letters of administration, until she was interviewed by an investigator from the Attorney General’s office in November 2023.

The lawsuit alleges Yee was damaged in several ways, and seeks “general, special, and punitive damages against Defendants in an amount to be proven at trial.”

Chapman committed civil fraud when he made “false representations” to obtain Yee’s signature on the probate application when he “knew that some of the material information contained therein was false.”

Further, the complaint charges “Chapman defamed or put Plaintiff in a false light
when he caused her to sign The Application, which was prepared by him; and The Application was based upon The Alleged Will, which Defendant Chapman knew to be fraudulent and manipulated.”

Finally, as a result of Chapman’s “intentional, reckless and outrageous” behavior, Yee has suffered extreme emotional distress.

In a declaration filed in court this week, attorneys Jim Bickerton and Tyler Mincavage said they expect the probable jury award “would likely be in excess of $150,000.00.”

Meanwhile, Chapman’s criminal trial, originally set to begin later this month, has been postponed until later this year to allow ongoing plea negotiations to continue.

Court minutes show prosecutors affirmed that a plea offer had been sent and that plea negotiations “are still ongoing.”

Chapman surrendered his law license at the end of 2022 after an investigation of a different case by the Attorney General found he “wrongfully attempted to lay claim to approximately $2,000,000.00 in abandoned property” by falsely claiming to represent the owner, who had been a former client years previously.

Chapman’s name was quickly dropped by his former law firm, which is now known as Clay Iwamura Pulice & Nervell.

Also see:

Fraud allegations lead to resignation of prominent business attorney, iLind.net, December 29, 2022

Two cases of legal fraud linked to prominent firm, iLind.net, April 28, 2023

Former Honolulu attorney indicted in alleged $750K probate fraud, iLind.net, June 21, 2025

When “immediately” apparently isn’t

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On June 4, three men were convicted in federal court on multiple felony charges for their roles in a complex and long running bribery scheme to defraud Hawaii County’s affordable housing program.

Two of the defendants–Paul Sulla and Gary Charles Zamber–are Hilo-based lawyers, the third a businessman.

A month after the jury verdict, a friend asked a simple question.

How is it that the two are still listed as having active law licenses even after being found guilty of multiple felonies?

Hmmmm. Good question. Here’s what I found.

The three were convicted on all charges, including one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and nine counts of honest services wire fraud, all felonies. Sulla was also convicted of money laundering, another felony. They are all scheduled to be sentenced in early December.

To appreciate what was involved, here’s a summary of the case from Environment Hawaii, a monthly newsletter that has reported on parts of the underlying transactions for years and is credited with sparking the federal investigation that eventually led to the indictments.

In its case…the Department of Justice has argued that between late-2014 and late-2021, the three men were involved in a conspiracy to provide bribes or kickbacks to former Hawai’i County Office of Housing and Community Development employee Alan Rudo in exchange for his help in securing affordable housing agreements, valuable excess affordable housing credits (made even more valuable by building restriction waivers he facilitated), and land in Waikoloa meant for the development of affordable housing.

The DOJ estimated that their schemes netted them nearly $11 million and eventually charged the men with honest-services wire fraud. It also charged Sulla, who created the various “shell” companies involved, with money laundering.

Looking back at court records, it appears both men continued to practice law and appear in court on behalf of clients over the three years between their indictment in 2022 and conviction in 2025.

The whole process of attorney discipline is shrouded in layers of secrecy, ostensibly to protect the public, but which mostly protect the reputations of those attorneys being investigated, as well as ODC itself. See my 2022 post, “Hawaii’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel has long considered itself a secret enclave.”

Court records show that on July 9, five weeks after Sulla and Zamber were convicted, ODC filed petitions asking the Supreme Court to issue an order “immediately restraining” both men from the practice of law, and to consider this a suspension from law practice for purposes of court rules.

That seems like it should have been a simple matter, but more two weeks have passed and the court has taken no action.

ODC also asked the court to refer the matter back to the Disciplinary Board to “institute formal disciplinary proceedings that will determine the appropriate discipline to be imposed, with formal hearing stayed until such time as the conviction is final.”

And just when is a conviction final? As we learned after the death of Mike Miske, a conviction isn’t final until the defendants have been sentenced and any appeals have been exhausted, or the deadline for filing appeals has passed. Even if the Supreme Court had actually taken “immediate” action, it could still be many months before the ODC’s confidential formal proceedings would begin. Or longer, if the defendants appeal.

This despite the fact ODC has the benefit of a running start. The office opened disciplinary cases against both attorneys when the federal charges were filed in 2022. These cases, which track the federal allegations, were and remain confidential. Their existence was made public only after ODC received subpoenas from federal prosecutors to produce any records of the disciplinary cases involving Sulla and Zamber, along with any statements made responsive to ODC’s actions, requiring ODC to ask the Supreme Court for a partial waiver of case confidentiality so that it could respond to the federal subpoenas.

More information about the status of the disciplinary cases opened in 2022 is unlikely to become public unless and until the pair are sentenced, run out any appeals, and the ODC formalities lead to a recommendation that will go back to the Hawaii Supreme Court for its decision.

Disbarring both men as convicted felons seems like it should be a slam dunk. But procedurally, even that isn’t simple or transparent.

Two Miske associates to appeal their sentences

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The Miske co-defendants who drew the longest sentences are both appealing those sentences to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Lance Bermudez, who was sentenced earlier this week to a 30-year term in federal prison, filed a notice on Friday that he intends to appeal the sentence.

Bermudez, 34, is the last of Mike Miske?s co-defendants and associates to be sentenced, bringing the criminal case to an end. His 30-year sentence was the longest meted out by Judge Derrick Watson, who presided over the long and complex case.

The Notice of Appeal was filed after Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield denied attorney Myles Breiner’s motion to withdraw from the case immediately. Mansfield’s reasons for turning down Breiner’s request may simply be a matter of timing.

In a brief letter attached to the “Notice of Appeal,” Bermudez says Breiner will no longer represent him once the notice is filed. The appeal itself will be filed later, presumably by a different attorney.

Letter attached to notice of appeal

Bermudez becomes the second defendant to challenge his lengthy sentence.

John Stancil, 37, Mike Miske?s younger half-brother, received a 20-year sentence, the maximum provided on the charge of racketeering conspiracy. Stancil filed a notice of appeal last year, which did not state the basis for the appeal. Following several delays, the opening brief in his appeal is due in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in September.

The appeals of both men are constrained by the terms of their plea agreements, in which each waived their rights to appeal their convictions and sentences “in exchange for the concessions made by the prosecution….”

Their plea agreements both provide that there are only two grounds of appeal that are available.

The first exception to the waiver provides the convictions or sentences can be appealed “based on a claim of ineffective
assistance of counsel.”

Further, if the defendant?s sentence is longer than the range spelled out in federal sentencing guidelines, the defendant may appeal “the portion of his sentence greater than specified in the guideline range….”

Bermudez’s 360-month sentence exceeds the high end of the guideline range, which was 327 months, the same sentence recommended by prosecutors. Although his plea agreement permits an appeal of the time period in excess of 327 months, even if successful it would reduce his 10-year sentence to “just” 27 years and three months.

At the time of Bermudez agreed to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors, he was represented by Honolulu attorney Berney Berver. At the time, he did not express any reservations about the quality of Berver?s legal representation. Myles Breiner only took over the case in January, long after Bermudez was convicted, and represented him until this week.