“Katherine Kealoha has been indicted by the Justice Department on more than fifty charges ranging from drug dealing to public corruption stemming from her time as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Kaneshiro’s office. Among the most egregious allegations, Kealoha is said to have worked with her husband – the former Police Chief of Honolulu – to falsify charges against a relative with whom she was having a financial dispute, and to thwart the prosecution of her brother – a local doctor – for illegally prescribing opioids for profit. The indictments have come in waves over the past two years, and Kealoha is now facing three separate trials. The latest indictment is the first to implicate Kaneshiro, though it has been known for some weeks that the FBI recently sent him a “target letter” – that is, a letter notifying him that he was under investigation.“

The Open File

February 21, 2019