Case 1:19-cr-00099-DKW-KJM Document 352 Filed 09/10/21 Page 1 of 8 PageID #:

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JUDITH A. PHILIPS
Acting United States Attorney
District of Hawaii

MICHAEL NAMMAR
MICAH SMITH
MARK A. INCIONG CA BAR #163443
Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Room 6-100, PJKK Federal Building
300 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Telephone: (808) 541-2850
Facsimile: (808) 541-2958
E-mail: michael.nammar@usdoj.gov
micah.smith@usdoj.gov
mark.inciong@usdoj.gov

Attorneys for Plaintiff

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) CR. NO. 19-00099-13 DKW

)
Plaintiff, ) UNITED STATES’ MOTION TO
) REVOKE THE UNITED STATES
) MAGISTRATE COURT’S
vs. ) PRETRIAL RELEASE ORDER;
) EXHIBITS A-D; CERTIFICATE OF
JASON K. YOKOYAMA, (13) ) SERVICE
)
Defendant. )
_______________________________)

UNITED STATES’ MOTION TO REVOKE THE UNITED STATES

MAGISTRATE COURT’S PRE-TRIAL RELEASE ORDER
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COMES NOW, the plaintiff, United States of America, by and through its

counsel, Judith A. Philips, Acting United States Attorney, and Michael Nammar,

Micah Smith and Mark A. Inciong, Assistant United States Attorneys and,

pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3145 (a)(1), hereby requests this Court to revoke the pre-

trial release order issued on September 10, 2021 by United States Magistrate Judge

Kenneth J. Mansfield and to order Defendant YOKOYAMA detained pending

trial. Said request is supported by the attached statement of facts and

memorandum of points and authorities.

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Defendant JASON K. YOKOYAMA (“YOKOYAMA”) is presently charged

in Count 1 of the Second Superseding Indictment with:

Participating in a racketeering conspiracy, referred to in the Second

Superseding Indictment as the “Miske Enterprise,” in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1962(d).

II. DETENTION PROCEEDINGS

On August 3, 2021, the Government filed its Motion to Detain against

JASON K. YOKOYAMA, ECF 281, who made his initial appearance on the

Second Superseding Indictment the next day. A detention hearing was held on

August 6, 2021 before United States Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. At the

detention hearing, the United States apprised the Court of the extremely serious

nature of the allegations against YOKOYAMA and the layers of corroborating

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evidence against him. The United States also expressed its concern that

YOKOYAMA had access to the vast financial resources of lead defendant

Michael J. Miske, Jr.

The Court, citing the facts alleged against YOKOYAMA in the Second

Superseding Indictment along with the totality of the nature and circumstances,

found there was no condition or combination of conditions which would ensure the

safety of the community or the appearance of the Defendant at future court

proceedings. Accordingly, the Court granted the Government’s motion to detain

and ordered YOKOYAMA be detained without bail pending trial. ECF 294.

On August 16, 2021, YOKOYAMA filed a motion to reconsider the

Magistrate Judge’s detention order. ECF 328. The Government filed its response

and opposition on September 3, 2021. ECF 347. On September 10, 2021, the

matter was heard before United States Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield who

granted the defendant’s motion to reconsider and ordered YOKOYAMA be

released pending trial secured by a $150,000 real property bond levied against the

defendant’s parents’ residence along with other conditions of release.

III. POINTS AND AUTHORITIES

A magistrate judge=s bail rulings are subject to de novo review in the district

court. United States v. Koenig, 912 F.2d 1190, 1192-3 (9th Cir. 1990). The district

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court has original jurisdiction over the felonies charged, and is therefore not

exercising appellate jurisdiction over the magistrate judge=s decision. Id.

The United States relies on the legal citations and arguments made in its

memorandum in support of detention, filed on August 3, 2021, and its response to

defendant’s motion to reconsider, filed on September 3, 2021, both of which are

attached hereto as Government Exhibits A and B and are incorporated by

reference. The Government also provides the Court with relevant excerpts of the

Michael J. Miske, Jr. Revocable Living Trust1, for which Defendant YOKOYOMA

is named trustee (attached as Exhibit C) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection

(USCBP) records of Defendant YOKOYAMA’s four international border

crossings in 2019 and 2020 (attached as Exhibit D).

The evidence against the Defendant in this case is strong and conviction is

likely. Accordingly, YOKOYAMA should be detained pending trial as he is both

a flight risk and a danger to the community.

A. YOKOYAMA is a flight risk and danger to the community.

While the Defendant has family and community ties to the island of Oahu,

the $150,000 property bond proposed by the Magistrate Court does not adequately

1
The full text of the trust is available upon the Court’s request.
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addresses either the risk of flight YOKOYAMA poses nor the danger to the

community that he presents.

In its recommendation for YOKOYAMA’s release, Pretrial Services

completely ignored the fact that in 2015, YOKOYAMA entered into a contract to

purchase a Lamborghini sports car for $227,118 and made just under $80,000 in

down payment and monthly payments toward that vehicle from December 2015 to

November 2017. The Magistrate Court similarly seemed to place no weight on the

fact that YOKOYAMA has demonstrated access to those unusually large sums of

money. As indicated previously, money or access to it is a primary indicator of an

individual’s ability to flee from prosecution.

As one of lead defendant Miske’s closest and most trusted confidants, not to

mention being named primary trustee of Miske’s revocable trust, YOKOYAMA

also has direct access to Miske’s various revenue streams which are numerous and

substantial. A $150,000 bond, as demonstrated by YOKOYAMA’s purchase of

the Lamborghini alone, is an amount readily accessible to YOKOYAMA and

renders virtually meaningless the supposed threat that his parents could lose the

family home if he fled or violated the terms of his pretrial release.

Similarly, neither Pretrial Services nor the Magistrate Court appear to be

concerned at all by the Defendant’s recent travel outside the country. The attached

USCBP records in Exhibit D show four separate pedestrian entries in less than ten
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months – including three in a 4-month span - into the United States at the San

Ysidro, California port of entry in 2019 and 2020.

Accordingly, the United States does not believe such a property bond would

sufficiently negate the Defendant’s risk of flight given the low preponderance of

the evidence standard which applies. Even if it did, it is the Government’s position

that the danger to the community is so inherent based on the facts and

circumstances before this Court that bond in that amount neither adequately

addresses the danger that would be posed by YOKOYAMA’s release.

IV. CONCLUSION

The United States has proven, by a preponderance of evidence, that

Defendant YOKOYAMA presents a risk of flight and has likewise demonstrated,

by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant presents a danger to other

persons and the community. Accordingly, there is no condition or combination of

conditions of release which will reasonably assure the safety of any other person

and the community or YOKOYAMA’s appearance at future court proceedings as

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required pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3142(e). Defendant YOKOYAMA should be

detained pending trial.

DATED: September 10, 2021, at Honolulu, Hawaii.

Respectfully submitted,

JUDITH A. PHILIPS
Acting United States Attorney
District of Hawaii

/s/ Mark A. Inciong

By________________________
MICHAEL NAMMAR
MICAH SMITH
MARK A. INCIONG
Assistant U. S. Attorneys

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that, on the dates and by the methods of service noted below,

a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served on the following at their last

known addresses:

Served Electronically through CM/ECF:

William Harrison, Esq.

Attorney for Defendant

JASON K. YOKOYAMA

DATED: September 10, 2021, at Honolulu, Hawaii.

/s/ Dawn Aihara

_________________________