A man sentenced to four years and two months in prison in 2015 in connection with his role in the “USO Family” prison gang must demonstrate Wednesday why his federal probation should not be revoked.
Shadrach Unea, who was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison and three years of federal probation on Jan. 20, 2015, will face an order to show why his supervised release should not be revoked during a hearing at 11 a.m. Wednesday via videoconference from the Federal Detention Center before U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi.
Unea was indicted with 17 others in September 2013 when agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, State of Department of Public Safety and Honolulu Police Department took their investigation of the prison gang, operating in and out of Hawaii’s prisons and jails, to federal prosecutors.
The USO Family motto was “Love, Honor, Respect, and Loyalty” and “Blood in; blood out,” a take on the 1993 cinematic American crime epic about a prison gang.
The indictment charged six people with a racketeering conspiracy consisting of multiple acts of fraud, methamphetamine and cannabis distribution, and bribery. Those indicted and their ages in 2013 were Charlie Esera, 46; Billy Wond, 38; Opherro Jones, 39; David Kahui, 34; Robin Lee, 52; and Feso Malufau, 54.
Thirteen of the defendants were charged with assaulting three people “for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position within the USO Family.”
Those defendants and their ages at the time were James Moser, 24; Paul Togia, 33; Vaofele Iiga, 35; Clarence Butler, 34; Potaufa Ula, 27; Unea, 28; Moses Thompson, 34; Daniel Kenolio, 28; Opherro Jones, 39; William Shinyama, 43; Tineimalo Adkins, 33; Akoni Davis, 24; and Travis Nishioka, 24.
Lee also was charged with six counts of making false claims for income tax refunds for four of the other defendants. According to the indictment, the filing of fraudulent tax returns for refunds was a method used by USO Family to fund its operations, including bribing prison guards.
Unea was arrested Jan. 2 by Honolulu police, for driving without a valid driver’s license, according to a request modifying the conditions for supervision filed Jan. 3. HPD officers were investigating an increase in vehicle break-ins at the Makapuu Lighthouse area in Honolulu.
Unea’s car was allegedly identified by an HPD officer as a “possible vehicle involved in the recent criminal activity and … conducting surveillance in the Makapu‘u Lighthouse area.”
Police officers “observed Mr. Unea driving two individuals known to be previously involved with drugs and property crimes and conducted a traffic stop.”
Unea was arrested for driving without a license, and during the arrest police officers allegedly saw items in Unea’s car that “HPD suspected could be stolen and impounded his vehicle.”
“Mr. Unea was released to the community following a hearing in an effort to offer him therapeutic interventions and continue rehabilitative efforts. Unfortunately, he has not taken advantage of the therapeutic interventions offered to him and has been regularly reminded to not drive without a driver’s license. Additionally, he was previously returned to custody after driving without a license, twice. He has demonstrated a complete disregard for the orders of the court and, despite prior sanctions for driving without a driver’s license, he has continued to exhibit the same unhealthy choices,” wrote Kate McClory, senior U.S. probation officer, on Jan. 3.
“Based on the above, it is respectfully recommended that the court issue a No Bail warrant for Mr. Unea’s appearance before the court to show cause why supervised release should not be revoked,” wrote McClory.
