A 35-year-old Washington man will plead guilty to charges that he tried to sell more than 4,000 fentanyl pills on Hawaii Island in December 2022, according to federal court documents.
Shane Taylor Bono of Centralia, Wash., was arrested by officers with the Hawaii Police Department on Dec. 28, 2022, on suspicion of seven counts of promoting a dangerous drug, promoting a controlled substance near a school or park, and driving with a suspended license.
Homeland Security Investigations agents took the case and Bono was not charged by the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.
After originally pleading not guilty, Bono will plead guilty on Monday. He will have to forfeit at least $4,590 in alleged drug proceeds.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid nearly 50 times more powerful than heroin and potentially lethal in small doses.
It is often administered to patients after serious surgery. On the street, illegally manufactured fentanyl pills, made to look like legitimate prescription opioids, retail for between $20 and $50 in Hawaii.
Between June 2020 and October 2023, 216 people died of fentanyl overdoses in Hawaii, according to the state Department of Health.
On April 3, a Waikiki man who sold cocaine to an active-duty Marine who overdosed and died on Jan. 23, 2023 was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
Rayshaun “Nova” Ducos, 27, was charged Jan. 27, 2023, with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
He entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Dec. 11, pleaded guilty and agreed to federal prison time.
Bono was charged by criminal complaint Dec. 30, 2022, with one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, punishable by a mandatory five-year minimum sentence with a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
On Jan. 5, federal prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. That charge was dismissed without prejudice because Bono had his change of plea hearing continued.
He was charged by federal felony information April 9.
On Dec. 28, 2022, a Hawaii County police officer saw Bono and another man in a silver Kia in a parking lot completing an illegal drug transaction, according to an affidavit by a HSI agent attached to the federal criminal complaint.
The officer saw the passenger in the Kia get out before the Kia made a left turn without using a signal.
The officer saw that Bono was driving without a seat belt and pulled him over.
A man riding with Bono in the Kia’s passenger seat ran away from police and was not arrested.
Bono said he was from Washington and had a Washington driver’s license and outstanding warrants. He told police he had a knife and there might be a gun in his Kia.
The officer reported removing Bono from the car and seeing a drug pipe in plain view, and arrested him on suspicion of seven counts of promoting a dangerous drug.
A search of Bono’s Kia found 2,550 blue fentanyl pills disguised as oxycodone, $4,590 in cash, 4 grams of methamphetamine, and two mobile phones.
Bono allegedly told police he flew from Seattle to Kailua-Kona on Dec. 23 and “acquired approximately 4,000 fentanyl tablets once he arrived.”
Bono also allegedly admitted he knew the pills were fentanyl and that he “is a heavy user of the drug.”
Bono’s change of plea is scheduled three days before a detention hearing for another alleged fentanyl dealer in federal court.
David William Lewis made his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader on a charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
On April 7, the officers with the Honolulu Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit notified agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that they pulled Lewis over in Kailua for a traffic violation, arrested him on a warrant and had his car in custody.
An Honolulu PD narcotics canine alerted officers that illegal drugs were in the car.
A search found a multicolored backpack in the front passenger area that was more than 548 grams of a “clear crystalline suspected controlled substance contained within a Girl Scout cookies box.”
Among the items allegedly found during the search was another 122.1 grams of the crystalline substance in clear plastic bags, a digital scale, about 100 blue pills in a black zipper pouch, and a clear plastic bag with a Hello Kitty insignia containing a “white and tan, rock-like suspected controlled substance; and a glass pipe with suspected drug residue.”
The confiscated substances tested positive for fentanyl, authorities said.
