Crime boss Mike Miske found dead in jail weeks before sentencing
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Crime boss Mike Miske was found dead Sunday while awaiting sentencing at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.
The 50-year-old was pronounced dead just after 10 a.m.
Teams from the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office spent several hours at the detention center. A sign on the door at FDC said all visits were canceled for Sunday.
The medical examiner said in a statement Monday, “The cause and manner of death are both listed as pending.”
Miske was found guilty in July of more than a dozen charges, including murder in connection with the 2016 disappearance of Johnathan Fraser, as part of the sprawling criminal enterprise case against him.
SPECIAL SECTION: The Miske Enterprise
In addition to murder, Miske was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, kidnapping, attempted murder, obstruction of justice, racketeering, and using a chemical weapon.
In July, Fraser’s mother Shelly Miguel, said Miske’s guilty verdict was “the kind of justice that my son deserves.”
Following Miske’s death, Miguel told HNN she was too emotional to go on camera.
Miske has been in federal jail since his arrest four years ago.
He was scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Alexander Silvert spent over 35 years as a federal public defender. He says inmate deaths from suicide or violence are extremely uncommon.
“The guards are highly trained. There are a lot of security cameras, so having a death there is a very rare circumstance,” he said.
The ruling in July meant Miske had to forfeit assets and bank accounts that were estimated to amount to $25 million, one of the largest forfeiture cases in Hawaii criminal history.
It’s unclear whether Miske was on suicide watch while in federal custody.
“That means they take away their sheets; they take away anything that could be used to harm themselves,” Silvert explained.
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