Honolulu businessman Michael J. Miske Jr., 50, was found dead Sunday at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, where he had been held since his arrest in 2020 and was awaiting sentencing in January.
Miske, convicted of racketeering conspiracy, murder and 11 other felony charges, was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 30, facing mandatory life sentences on two counts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson confirmed to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser early Sunday afternoon that Miske was found dead in his cell but declined to provide further details.
The cause of Miske’s death remains unverified.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s office said details from the Honolulu Medical Examiner would be released in the coming days.
As of Sunday evening no additional information had been made available.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show the medical examiner arriving at the FDC, along with Memorial Transport of Hawaii, a company that handles the transportation of corpses to medical examiners and mortuaries.
A sign posted on the FDC’s doors indicated that visitation had been canceled for the day.
“The family of Michael Miske thanks you for your concern and ask that you respect our privacy at this time,” Maryanne Miske, Miske’s cousin, told the Star-Advertiser. She added that the family would not comment further on his death.
“However, one note is that we are extremely disappointed in the Federal Government, and the FDC in their ability to keep him safe, and secure,” she said. “Regardless of what they thought of him, he is still our loved one. He is a son, a father, a brother, a grandfather, an uncle, nephew, and a friend and he IS LOVED. All should remember that.”
Miske’s trial, which began in January, lasted about six months and included 98 days of testimony, extensive evidence and over 240 witnesses presented by federal prosecutors.
He stood trial alone after six alleged co-conspirators — John Stancil, Dae Han Moon, Preston M. Kimoto, Delia-Anne Fabro-Miske, Jarrin Young and Jason K. Yokoyama — accepted plea deals.
As part of his plea agreement, Stancil admitted to orchestrating two chemical attacks on Honolulu nightclubs on consecutive days in March 2017, acting under orders from Miske, according to federal court documents.
Stancil provided a driver with chloropicrin — a hazardous chemical capable of causing severe harm, including serious health issues, temporary incapacitation or even death in humans — along with instructions for its use.
Stancil used what he had learned from a similar chemical attack on a Waikiki nightclub in 2015, which Miske had also ordered, to carry out the assaults.
During the March 2017 attacks, chloropicrin was released in one Oahu nightclub on back-to-back nights, causing patrons to flee as they experienced severe eye irritation and difficulty breathing.
Stancil also admitted to facilitating a $60,000 murder-for-hire contract in 2016 as part of his involvement with Miske’s criminal enterprise.
On July 18 a federal jury convicted Miske on all counts, including racketeering conspiracy and the murder of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser.
Prosecutors argued that Miske orchestrated Fraser’s 2016 kidnapping and murder, believing Fraser was responsible for the car accident that killed Miske’s son, Caleb. Evidence later revealed that Caleb had been the driver in the crash.
Fraser was last seen July 30, 2016, and his body has not been recovered.
Federal prosecutors claimed that from the late 1990s to 2020, Miske and his associates ran the “Miske Enterprise,” which engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity that included murder, kidnapping, arson and robbery.
As part of the racketeering conspiracy conviction, the court ordered Miske to forfeit assets worth over $20 million, marking the largest individual forfeiture case in Hawaii’s history, according to Sorenson.
The forfeiture was finalized July 24.
Star-Advertiser writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report.