Miske Case: 2 More Co-Defendants Sentenced
The cases against Michael Miske’s co-defendants continue more than a month after the convicted crime boss was found dead in his cell.
Editor鈥檚 note: This column is being reprinted from his blog, , with the author鈥檚 permission.
Two more of Michael Miske鈥檚 original 10 co-defendants were sentenced this week, with each receiving three years in federal custody.
On Monday, Federal Judge Derrick Watson sentenced Michael Buntenbah, 52, to 36 months in prison. 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 five-year prison sentence. The 36-month sentence reflects a one-level downward departure from sentencing guidelines for pleading guilty in a 鈥渢imely fashion,鈥 but Watson denied Buntenbah鈥檚 request for an additional reduction in sentence.
In addition, Buntenbah was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and to serve a year on supervised release.
As part of his plea agreement, Buntenbah agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the continuing law enforcement investigation of Miske鈥檚 racketeering organization. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop two drug trafficking charges that would have each carried a 10-year minimum sentence.
Buntenbah鈥檚 sentencing had originally been scheduled in November.
However, Judge Watson deferred sentencing in order to give prosecutors time to consider whether to set aside Buntenbah’s plea agreement and potentially pursue a longer sentence. That was apparently because Buntenbah was arrested again 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 Waik墨k墨 brawl. That decision is 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 training.
On Wednesday morning, Preston Kimoto, 46, a former manager for Miske鈥檚 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 government 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鈥檚 assistance in recovering nearly $1,000,000 that a friend鈥檚 father believed he had been cheated out of in a business investment deal.
Special Report
Read all of Civil Beat鈥檚 coverage on the Michael Miske case. Subscribe to our free Morning Beat newsletter to never miss an update.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鈥檚 Federal Detention Center rather than being transferred to a facility on the U.S. mainland.
Miske, who was convicted in July on 13 federal counts including murder and racketeering conspiracy, was found dead on Dec. 1 in his cell in the Federal Detention Center, according to city officials. He had been awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled for late January.
