Miske Case Rocks Stagehand Union After Executive Board Member's Guilty Plea
The ripple effects from the federal criminal prosecution of former Honolulu business owner Michael Miske Jr. are now rocking Local 665 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees after a member of its executive board admitted he took part in drug trafficking, armed robberies and at least one murder-for-hire scheme as a member of a racketeering organization that Miske controlled and directed.
Norman Lani Akau III appeared before a federal judge in Honolulu last month and pleaded guilty to a single count of having “willfully and knowingly” conspired with others in the Miske Enterprise to plan or carry out a series of crimes beginning at least by 2015 and continuing until his arrest.
At the time of his arrest last year, Akau, a camera and rigging grip who earned credits as a crew member on a number of movies and television series, was serving his third term as an elected at-large member of IATSE Local 665’s executive board.
Akau was also owner of an air conditioning company, Alii Air Inc., that was a vendor of portable air conditioning units used during television and movie productions, at the same time he was overseeing air-conditioning technicians while wearing his union hat.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/07/miske-case-rocks-stagehand-union-after-executive-board-members-guilty-plea/
