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Prosecutors in the federal racketeering trial of Michael Miske told jurors during closing arguments on Thursday that each of them had a “front-row seat into a deep dive of a criminal underworld” created and controlled by Miske. 

During a more than five-hour presentation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Inciong described a vast enterprise run by Miske that spanned his business and personal lives and used violent tactics such as assaults, kidnappings, chemical attacks and murder-for-hire to silence rivals and further the group’s mission of enriching itself and maintaining its power and influence. 

“It’s a place where greed, intimidation, retribution and violence ruled the day,” Inciong said. “And at the very epicenter of that criminal underworld was the defendant, Michael J. Miske, who embodied each of those traits and employed them all in building and maintaining a criminal enterprise that preyed upon this island for the better part of two decades.” 

Going one by one through the 16 counts Miske is charged with — nine of which are conspiracy counts — Inciong reminded jurors that to prove conspiracy, the government only needs to show that Miske agreed with at least one other person to commit the crime. Even if the crime was never carried out, he can still be found guilty as long as the agreement is proven, Inciong said. 

Miske, dressed in a beige suit, sat at the defense table next to his lawyer, Michael Kennedy, watching Inciong’s presentation and taking notes.  

The defense is scheduled to make its closing arguments Friday, and the jury is expected to begin deliberations Monday. The jurors, who have been hearing testimony since the trial began on Jan. 22, will then have to decide on a verdict for each of Miske’s 16 counts, all while following 156 pages of jury instructions. 

Two of Miske’s most serious charges — murder in aid of racketeering and murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death, both of which stem from the 2016 disappearance of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser — each carry a mandatory minimum life sentence. Miske has pleaded not guilty to all 16 counts. 

Toward the end of his presentation, Inciong addressed the fact that the government has not presented evidence showing who killed Fraser, how he was killed, where he was killed or what happened to his body. Fraser disappeared from the Hawaii Kai apartment where he was living with his then-girlfriend on July 30, 2016, and his body has never been found. 

Inciong told jurors he knew they likely had questions about what happened to Fraser and said many people wish they had the answers.  

“Someone knows,” he said, as he turned to make eye contact with Miske, who stared directly back. 

But Inciong told jurors those questions weren’t for them to decide at this trial. The details of Fraser’s killing aren’t needed to prove the elements of the crimes Miske is charged with, he said. To convict, jurors need only be sure beyond a reasonable doubt that Miske intended Fraser to be killed in exchange for money, aided and abetted someone else in the killing, involved members of his criminal enterprise and acted with the purpose of maintaining his own reputation within the group.

Fraser’s Killing 

Inciong said despite the fact that Fraser’s body was never found, there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove his death.

One of the first signs that something was wrong was the state of his apartment the day Fraser went missing, Inciong said. His backpack, vape pen and prescription medications that he always took with him were left behind. A DVD player was left on and his bed was unmade. His beloved dog Nala was stuck outside on a patio with no food or water.

He missed his grandmother’s birthday party and a doctor’s appointment in the days following his disappearance, Inciong said. Since the morning of July 30, 2016, his friends, family members and then-girlfriend, Ashley Wong, who was four months pregnant at the time, have never seen or heard from him.

And despite heavy news coverage, missing person posters around the island and information about his disappearance shared widely on social media, there has never been a confirmed sighting of Fraser, Inciong said. 

Prosecutors say Miske conspired to have Fraser kidnapped and killed because he blamed Fraser for a car crash that ultimately killed his son, Caleb. After Caleb died of his injuries, Miske falsely accused Fraser of having been behind the wheel at the time of the crash, even though witnesses say it was Caleb who had been driving. 

Inciong said Miske also acted suspiciously in the wake of Fraser’s disappearance. He called Wong after investigators had been in the apartment searching for evidence and demanded to know the name of the lead detective. He also told Wong he’d help pay for missing person flyers but never followed through. 

Inciong said multiple witnesses testified to Miske’s intent to kill Fraser, including Miske’s longtime right-hand man, Wayne Miller, who said Miske told him “the kid’s gotta go” and that they’d “take care of this” after planning his son’s funeral. 

Miske’s defense attorneys have said throughout the trial that Miske had nothing to do with Fraser’s disappearance and have suggested Fraser wasn’t killed at all. 

Intimidation And Violence 

Inciong pulled up a series of photos for jurors showing the bruised, swollen and bloodied faces of various people he said Miske conspired to have beaten and intimidated.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Preston Kimoto’s role in the kidnapping of Robert Lee. The story has been corrected.

One of the victims was Robert Lee, an accountant who says he was kidnapped by Miske associates Miller and Jonah Ortiz in 2017. The two men duct-taped a bag around Lee’s head, put him in the back of their car and beat him as they demanded money, Inciong said. Another associate, Preston Kimoto, was charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping for helping Miller plan it, according to a plea agreement.

Another victim was Michael Galmiche, a rival promoter who was advertising a New Year’s Eve block party across the street from Miske’s M Nightclub. Miske along with John Stancil — his half-brother and former co-defendant — and others destroyed Galmiche’s equipment and beat him so badly he had to be hospitalized. 

These are just a few of the people Miske ordered threatened, assaulted or in some cases killed to maintain his reputation as the leader of the most powerful criminal organization on the island, Inciong said.

 “The defendant left a path of battered bodies, shattered lives, traumatized victims and death scattered in his wake,” Inciong said.

He engaged in all of this violent intimidation to further his money-making criminal enterprise, which also engaged in the trafficking of drugs and illegal fireworks, Inciong said. Miske made around $2 million selling fireworks on the black market, and never reported this or millions of dollars of other illicit income to the IRS. 

Inciong asked jurors to use their judgment and life experiences to draw reasonable conclusions about the evidence. He told them the government didn’t need to prove the charges beyond all possible doubt, only beyond a reasonable doubt, which he described as based upon “reason and common sense.” 

“Enough already of the terror,” Inciong said. “Enough of Mike Miske’s criminal activities. Enough of the Miske enterprise … End this once and for all. Find Mike Miske guilty.”