Katherine Kealoha Signs Plea Deal With Prosecutors
Her attorney said she signed a deal at the Federal Detention Center Sunday morning.
Katherine Kealoha has signed a plea agreement in two pending criminal cases involving bank fraud, identity theft and drug trafficking charges, her attorney said.
Gary Singh, who represents the former city deputy prosecutor in those cases said she signed the deal at the Federal Detention Center, where she has been incarcerated since her conviction in a separate conspiracy case in June, Sunday morning.
As part of the plea agreement, Kealoha will plead guilty to three felonies, including bank fraud, in exchange for reduced prison time, attorneys involved in the case previously said.
In the bank fraud case, she and her husband, former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, were accused of defrauding banking institutions, as well as the trust funds of children for whom Katherine Kealoha was a guardian. Katherine Kealoha also faced identity fraud charges in that case.
In another case, Katherine Kealoha and her younger brother, Rudolph Puana, were accused of running a prescription drug trafficking ring. That trial is scheduled for May 2020.
If the judge approves Katherine Kealoha鈥檚 plea deal on Tuesday, neither of those trials would happen.
Louis Kealoha and Puana were not part of her agreement, although he is also reported to be in negotiations himself, according to his attorney, Rustam Barbee.
Barbee said Friday that there is a 鈥減roposed agreement鈥 but that there is 鈥渘ot a deal until it鈥檚 signed.鈥
Katherine Kealoha will sign her plea agreement again in open court at a hearing at the federal court before U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright on Tuesday, said Singh.
The Kealohas were convicted in June of conspiracy and obstruction charges by a federal jury for conspiring to frame Gerard Puana, her uncle, for the theft of their mailbox. Sentencing in that case is set for Oct. 31.
