Ex-prosecutor, brother hit with drug charges in Hawaii

https://www.apnews.com/03210c87b28c410d85cd8d1752e8fd1c

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses a former Honolulu city prosecutor of dealing opioids with her physician brother and using her position to cover up their crimes. Katherine Kealoha, the wife of now-retired Honolulu police chief Louis Kealoha, steered law enforcement away from investigating her brother, Dr. Rudolph Puana, after police told her that he was buying cocaine, according to the indictment.

The siblings and unnamed co-conspirators were charged with distributing oxycodone, fentanyl and Xanax. Puana was arrested amid a growing federal corruption investigation that has resulted in indictments against the Kealohas and current and former officers. Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors also asked the state Supreme Court to immediately suspend Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro because he is a target in the investigation.

Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, Honolulu’s chief legal officer, took a leave of absence after receiving a target letter linked to the corruption investigation. Chasid Sapolu, Honolulu’s second-highest-ranking prosecutor, announced a leave of absence after receiving a subject letter, which is less serious than a target letter.

When a police officer notified (Honolulu city prosecutor) Kealoha that her brother and a co-conspirator were buying and using cocaine, she “arranged to have herself assigned as the prosecutor” of the investigation, the indictment said. That allowed her to “steer law enforcement scrutiny away from her brother’s felonious conduct in that drug conspiracy,” the indictment said. She then gave favorable plea deals to others involved “to reduce the likelihood they would reveal that her brother had distributed controlled substances,” the document says.