![]() ![]() ![]() On several occasions, he brought an unnecessary entourage of family members and other employees on trips with dubious connections to union needs. Ahakuelo was also able to make unilateral decisions on travel. Their pay contributed to the union’s salary expenses jumping by 150%, the judge said.Īhakuelo was emboldened by an inexperienced executive board, handpicked by Ahakuelo himself, that literally and figuratively handed him signed blank checks to spend as he wished, Gillmor said. His wife, sister-in-law, son and his children’s spouses were all on the union’s payroll. Prosecutors said Ahakuelo hired family members at salaries exceeding what union rules allowed. Four years later, it had a deficit of some $760,000. In 2010, the union had a surplus of approximately $700,000, Gillmor noted. In a weeks-long trial last year, federal prosecutors detailed how the finances of Local 1260 nosedived after Ahakuelo took over as business manager and financial secretary. Brian Ahakuelo began his trial last year with confidence he would win, but a jury found him guilty on all counts. “You need to tell these people that they are being watched and that even though it is very difficult to find fraud, when it is found, you will be punished,” she said. The sentence is less than federal guidelines suggest due to Ahakuelo’s age, 62, and the low likelihood that he will commit a similar crime again, Gillmor said.īut it’s long enough to send a message to other people in a position of trust, the judge said. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor handed down the 140-month sentence on Thursday as Ahakuelo stood in the courtroom in a white jumpsuit. A jury found Brian Ahakuelo stole and laundered union money and raised dues against the will of members.īrian Ahakuelo, the disgraced boss of a Honolulu electrical workers union, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison after he was convicted of embezzlement and falsifying a union vote. ![]()
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