REPORT FROM THE US ATTORNEY – HONOLULU – A federal jury found Kali Lotoaiki Laulea, 33, of Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i County, guilty today after a five day trial in United States District Court in Honolulu. Laulea was convicted of three counts of methamphetamine distribution. Specifically, the jury convicted Laulea of distributing five or more grams of pure methamphetamine on August 1, and August 2, 2013, respectively, and also of distributing fifty or more grams of pure methamphetamine on August 16, 2013.
Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that the evidence presented at trial showed that Laulea knowingly distributed a total of 484 grams of pure crystal methamphetamine over the course of three drug transactions that Laulea conducted in Kailua-Kona during August 2013.
Laulea faces at least 5 years, and up to 40 years, in prison and a $5 million fine as to Counts 1-2 of the Indictment, respectively, and at least 10 years, and up to life, in prison and a $10 million fine as to Count 3, when he is sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Alan C. Kay on December 8, 2014.
The investigation that resulted in the charges against Laulea was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Hawai’i County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Hattan and Mark Inciong handled the prosecution.