A federal jury convicted Kali Lotoaiki Laulea, 33, of Kailua-Kona on several drug counts following a five-day trial in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, federal officials said Wednesday.
The jury convicted Laulea of two counts of distributing five or more grams of pure methamphetamine and also of distributing fifty or more grams of pure methamphetamine for incidents that took place in August 2013.
Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said Laulea distributed a total of 484 grams — or more than 17 ounces — of pure crystal methamphetamine over the course of three drug transactions, which took place in Kailua-Kona.
Laulea faces five years to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine for the two counts for the smaller transactions, and 10 years to life for the third charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.
The investigation that resulted in the charges against Laulea was conducted by the FBI, with the assistance of the Hawaii Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Hattan and Mark Inciong handled the prosecution.