Category Archives: Crime

Founder of a Kaneohe biker gang and former stagehand union official to be sentenced next week

Norman Lani Akau III, who pleaded guilty in June 2021 to participating in the racketeering conspiracy controlled and directed by the late Honolulu business owner Michael J. Miske, Jr., is scheduled to appear before Judge Derrick Watson for sentencing next week.

Miske and ten co-defendants, including Akau, were named in a sealed indictment in June 2020. The indictment was unsealed and the defendants swept up in a series of raids the following month. Miske was convicted on 13 charges ranging from kidnapping and murder to obstruction of justice following a nearly six-month jury trial last year.

The racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to three years.

Akau, now 52, is almost the last of Miske’s co-defendants to be sentenced, with only Lance Bermudez, known as “Hammah,” still waiting to be sentenced in July.

Akau was only the second of Miske’s co-defendants to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. In exchange for admitting to the racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors dropped charges of drug trafficking, armed robbery, and carrying and using a firearm in a crime of violence. Eventually all twelve of Miske’s other co-defendants in the case also accepted plea deals, including his half-brother and his son’s widow.

Federal sentencing guidelines in Akau’s case call for a prison term ranging from 188 to 235 months, according to a sealed presentence report quoted by Akau’s attorney, Tucson, Arizona-based Ramiro S. Flores, who has objected to the report’s calculations. With a downward adjustment recognizing Akau’s cooperation with the government following his plea deal, the presentence report recommended a sentence of 168 months imprisonment.

In a 13-page presentence memorandum filed in Honolulu’s Federal District Court last week, Flores argued that several factors justify reducing the proposed sentence to just 60 months, nearly two-thirds below the presentence report’s recommendation.

With credit for time served, Akau would be elible for release almost immediately if his sentence was reduced to 60 months.

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Lawsuit seeks damages from Miske estate for kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser

A wrongful death lawsuit seeking monetary damages has been filed against the late racketeering boss Michael J. Miske, Jr., his estate, and several of his associates, alleging they “knowingly, deliberately, intentionally, and maliciously” caused the death of 21-year old Jonathan Fraser in 2016.

Fraser was the best friend of Miske’s son, Caleb, when the two young men were involved in a high-speed auto accident in Kaneohe. Both were taken to Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition. Fraser survived, but Caleb Miske died several months later of complications from his injuries.

A federal jury found Miske guilty of directing a murder-for-hire revenge plot that resulted in Fraser’s sudden disappearance on July 30, 2016. Trial testimony established that Mike Miske mistakenly believed Fraser had been driving at the time of the accident and held him responsible for Caleb’s death, although that belief was unsupported by any witnesses at the accident scene or any available accident reports.

Despite the jury verdict, Miske’s indictment and convictions had to be vacated after his death of a fentanyl overdose in December while in custody at the Federal Detention Center awaiting sentencing.

The wrongful death claim was filed several weeks ago on behalf of Fraser’s biological father, William A. Fraser III, and indicates he is also seeking to be appointed as personal representative for Johnny Fraser’s estate. There is no mention of Johnny Fraser’s mother, who campaigned publicly for years to keep his disappearance in the public eye, and pressed relentlessly for the investigation to continue until charges were filed.

The wrongful death claim names two defendants alleged to be responsible for the murder–Jacob “Jake” Smith and Lance Bermudez. Miske’s longtime employee and business partner, Jason Yokoyama, and Caleb Miske’s widow, Delia Fabro Miske, were allegedly active parts of the conspiracy as well and are also named as defendants. All four have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges stemming from their roles in the racketeering enterprise Miske controlled until his arrest in July 2020.

The lawsuit repeats allegations made during Miske’s trial that Yokoyama purchased a white Sienna van and other items to be used in Fraser’s kidnapping, while Fabro-Miske arranged for Fraser to be alone at home without a working cell phone on the day he disappeared.

It is the second lawsuit filed by the Seitz law firm on behalf of a Miske victim seeking monetary damages. An earlier lawsuit was filed on behalf of Seung-Ji Robert Lee, an accountant who was kidnapped and assaulted on Miske’s orders. That case is pending in Honolulu’s First Circuit Court.

Although prosecutors did not present evidence, or even a theory, of exactly how and by whom Fraser was kidnapped and murdered, the latest complaint pulls together bits and pieces of evidence from trial testimony and documents disclosed in discovery and eventually made public, and draws a direct conclusion.

“Smith and Bermudez were tasked with abducting and murdering Jonathan,” according to the lawsuit. “Miske offered Smith $50,000 to torture and murder Jonathan and to provide him with video of the killing.”

The case appears to rest heavily on statements by James Borling-Salas, a young associate of Smith’s, who told investigators in December 2019 that he had assisted in Fraser’s kidnapping, and later saw him being assaulted by Bermudez and Smith in a 12-bedroom Kalihi home where they were renting the second floor. He also said Smith showed him a video of the torture on his phone.

Borling Salas had a record of arrests for petty crimes as a teen, and while in custody became associated with the La Familia prison gang, where he met Jake Smith, also a La Familia member. He lived with Smith during one period, and joined Smith and others in several assaults prosecutors attributed to the Miske Enterprise as well as the Fraser kidnapping.

However, three years later, Borling-Salas was severely beaten by three inmates in December 2019 while detained at the Oahu Community Correctional Center on a probation violation. He died in January 2019. The beating was allegedly in retaliation for being a “snitch” and for attempting to end affiliation with La Familia. The three inmates who took part in the beating were La Familia members.

The Seitz law firm conducted its own investigation in support of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Janet Salas, James Borling-Salas’ mother, alleging the Department of Public Safety action and inaction contributed to his death.

To pursue its wrongful death claim, Fraser’s attorneys will essentially have to put on their own case pinning the kidnapping and murder on the named defendants, something prosecutors sidestepped during their successful prosecution of Miske.

The difference, which will be critical if the case moves forward, is that the plaintiff’s burden of proof in a civil lawsuit is to prove their allegations “a preponderance of the evidence,” showing that their claims are more than 50% likely to be true. This is a far lower standard than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” prosecutors had to show in order to obtain Miske’s conviction in his criminal trial.

However, the federal government is currently pursuing a civil lawsuit seeking court approval to seize an estimated $25 million in assets of Miske and the group of companies he owned and controlled. Seitz filed a motion to intervene in the forfeiture case on behalf of the accountant, Seung-Ji Robert Lee, seeking “to vindicate his interests in and rights to restitution and civil damages against Michael J. Miske.”

That effort was unsuccessful, and the motion to intervene in the forfeiture case was withdrawn.

Wrongful Death lawsuit filed against Michael Miske's estate by Ian Lind on Scribd

Courthouse News Service provided details of Fabro-Miske sentencing

I missed Delia Fabro-Miske’s sentencing as I waited for two plumbers to finish up a repair at our house.

But Courthouse News Service reporter Jeremy Yurow was there and provided a valuable account.

Here’s an excerpt. You should use to link to read Yurow’s full original account.

She (Fabro-Miske) appeared for sentencing at the federal courthouse in Honolulu accompanied by her defense attorneys, who had argued that their client was under the control of her powerful father-in-law.

“She wasn’t running a multi-million dollar organization. She wasn’t the property owner,” defense attorney Marcia Morrissey told the court. “She did what he told her to do because she wasn’t equipped to — maybe the judge sees — she was a high school graduate, no training in business.”

Watson overruled the defense’s objections about her supposed involvement in the 2016 kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser, in what prosecutors say was retaliation by Miske for his son’s death in a car crash.

“There were several acts by Ms. Fabro-Miske that cumulatively leave no doubt in my mind that she knew what her acts were contributing to when she did them — that is, Mr. Fraser’s kidnapping and his ultimate murder,” Watson said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Watson rejected arguments that Fabro-Miske was unaware of her role in Fraser’s disappearance, pointing to specific actions she took, including convincing Fraser and his girlfriend Ashley Wong to become roommates in an apartment paid for by Mike Miske.

“What followed was this: in the Hawaii Kai apartment that Ms. Fabro-Miske shared for a very short period of time with Mr. Fraser and Ms. Wong, Ms. Fabro disconnected the Time Warner router that was the only way for Mr. Fraser and Ms. Wong to use one of the cellular phones they possessed to communicate,” Watson said.

The judge also cited how Fabro-Miske arranged an expensive spa day for herself and Wong on the day Fraser disappeared, and then quickly evicted Wong from the apartment under false pretenses.

“While any one of these actions might be explained away with innocent and other reasons, together they paint a strong and clear picture of a conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping in aid of the very same racketeering enterprise that Ms. Fabro-Miske admitted she was a member of,” Watson said.

Delia Fabro-Miske sentenced to federal prison

Delia Fabro-Miske, the daughter-in-law of the late business owner and racketeering boss Michael J. Miske, Jr., was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in federal prison by Judge Derrick K. Watson during a hearing in Honolulu’s Federal District Court on Wednesday afternoon.

In addition, she will have to serve three years on supervised release after completion of her prison sentence, and pay $49,998 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.

Watson denied a request by Fabro-Miske’s attorney for a “non-custodial” sentence that would allow Fabro-Miske to continue raising her daughter.

Minutes of the sentencing hearing show the court adopted the factual findings of a revised Presentence Investigation Report. Although confidential, this section was disclosed in a legal memo by Fabro-Miske’s attorney opposing consideration of the “relevant acts” attributed to her by other trial witnesses.

… [A]s noted in her Sentencing Statement, the defendant contests her involvement in a significant number of the RA s asserted by cooperating defendants, including more than half of the RA s attributable for her for guideline computation purposes in this case. As a result, the defendant has minimized her conduct and has not fully accepted responsibility for her involvement in the instant offense. … Of further concern, the defendant has articulated no remorse for her participation in the kidnapping or murder of Fraser. Instead, she has put the blame entirely on Miske. The aggravating factors in this case increase the defendant’s likelihood of recidivism and risk of danger to the community.[emphasis added]

Marcia A. Morrissey, a California-based attorney representing Fabro-Miske, argued “the kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser should not be considered relevant conduct, based on facts adduced at trial,” as well as federal sentencing guidelines and case law interpreting the guidelines.

After arguments were made in court, Judge Watson overruled Morrissey’s objections and permitted Fabro-Miske’s actions related to Fraser’s kidnapping and murder to be considered in his sentencing decision, according to the minutes of the hearing.

Any appeal of the sentence must be filed within 14 days of entry of judgement. It is not known whether Morrissey intends to appeal the sentence.

Fabro-Miske, now 30, was not among Mike Miske’s ten co-defendants named in the original racketeering indictment unsealed in July 2020. She was added to the case, along with Miske’s employee and business partner, Jason Yokoyama, in a superseding grand jury indictment in July 2021.

Unlike most of Mike Miske’s other co-defendants, Fabro-Miske spent only a short time in federal detention before being placed on supervised release, so she has little prior credit for time served. Judge Watson recommended she be confined in the federal correctional institution at Victorville (1st choice) or Phoenix (2nd choice), both medium security facilities. She is scheduled to turn herself in and begin her 7 year sentence by 2 p.m. on May 28.

Fabro-Miske was married to Miske’s late son, Caleb Jordan Keanu Miske, in October 2015. She was pregnant at the time. A month later, Caleb was critically injured in an automobile accident in Kaneohe. He died of complications of his injuries in March 2016 without having left the hospital.

Within a matter of months, Delia had been married, then left a widow and a single mother at 21.

Just a few months later, she assisted in the kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser, Caleb’s best friend, who had also been critically injured in the crash that took Caleb’s life, but survived. Mike Miske wrongly blamed Fraser for being in the driver’s seat at the time of the accident, contrary to all available evidence and witness testimony, and the jury concluded he set in motion a murder-for-hire plot that ended with Fraser’s disappearance and death.

Johnny Fraser’s girlfriend, Ashley Wong (left) with Delia Fabro-Miske on the day he disappeared.

After Caleb’s death, Delia invited Fraser and his girlfriend to share her Hawaii Kai apartment that was being paid for by Mike Miske. On July 30, Delia took Wong to the Ko ‘Olina Resort on the other end of the island for a “spa day.” While the two women were there, Fraser disappeared and is presumed to have been kidnapped and murdered.

Fabro-Miske quickly became a central part of Miske’s scheme to hide his ownership of Kamaaina Termite and his other related businesses. State business registration records of Miske’s companies were updated to remove his name and instead claim Delia as the sole officer and director. The companies she supposedly controlled included Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, Oahu Termite and Pest Management, Kamaaina Holdings, Hawaii Partners, Kamaaina Energy, and Makana-Pacific Construction.

However, testimony during the trial described Fabro-Miske as more of a general clerical worker in the Kamaaina Termite office, doing routine tasks and handling paperwork. Tax returns cited during the trial confirmed Miske remained the sole owner of each of the companies even after removing his name from state records.

Fabro-Miske pleaded guilty on January 12, 2024, days after jury selection began in the case, leaving Mike Miske and his half-brother, John Stancil, as the only remaining defendants. Stancil then entered a guilty plea on the first day of trial, leaving Miske to face the jury alone.

In her plea agreement, Fabro-Miske admitted she had been part of Miske’s racketeering organization and took part in racketeering activities that involved bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and wire fraud. For example, she helped to prepare fraudulent corporate documents in order to allow several people to qualify for bank loans to purchase trucks, and she also hid her actual income in order to obtain the maximum Social Security survivor benefits after Caleb Miske’s death.

More importantly, her plea agreement included a provision requiring her to “cooperate fully” with government investigators and prosecutors, including “to be available to speak with law enforcement officials and representatives of the United States Attorney’s Office at any time and to give truthful and complete answers at such meetings….”

She also agreed to testify in any grand jury or trial proceedings involving her co-defendants, if requested.

Fabro-Miske ultimately was not called as witness during Miske’s trial, and the extent of her cooperation with prosecutors remains publicly unknown.