Former Hawaii top prosecutor indicted in public corruption probe

A former Hawaii prosecuting attorney turned himself in Friday to the FBI in connection with a public corruption probe that has already resulted in the conviction of the former police chief of Honolulu.

Keith Mitsuyoshi Kaneshiro surrendered just before 6 a.m. local time and was indicted on conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and federal program bribery and conspiracy against rights, FOX affiliate KHON2 reported.

He received a target letter from the Justice Department in 2018 after he became a focus of a corruption probe that resulted in the indictment and conviction of former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, former Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha. 

Kaneshiro was placed on paid leave as Honolulu’s prosecuting attorney for the last two years of his term until a leadership change in 2020. 

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Also named in Friday’s indictment were others connected to the Mitsunaga and Associates engineering firm. Federal prosecutors allege the four conspired to violate the civil rights of a former employee of the firm, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. 

That employee sued the firm for age discrimination. At the firm’s request in 2014, Kaneshiro allegedly prosecuted the employee for four counts of theft. Authorities alleged the employee billed the firm for time while working unauthorized side jobs and using firm resources – email and phone — for those jobs, KHON reported.

The charges against the employee were dismissed in 2017. Fox News has reached out to federal authorities.