Man pleads guilty to using ghost gun while selling meth
Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati was arrested twice in May 2024 on suspicion of drug and gun charges. The city back despite his guilty plea to federal drug and gun crimes.
He was charged May 24 by federal criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to federal court records.
Perkins-Sinapati entered into a plea agreement Wednesday with the U.S.
Department of Justice and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He was charged April 30 with both offenses by federal information.
He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $10 million fine for dealing methamphetamine and up to 15 years in federal prison and a $250, 000 fine on the gun charge.
Perkins-Sinapati will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Aug. 28 before U.S. District Judge Shanlyn A.S. Park.
On May 23 the Honolulu Police Department got an anonymous tip that Perkins-Sinapati was driving a black 2017 Jaguar F-Pace sport utility vehicle and was wanted on an outstanding state warrant with a bail amount of $1 million, according to federal court records.
Perkins-Sinapati was charged in, 2024, with several firearm and ammunition offenses, third-degree promoting a dangerous drug and second-degree reckless endangering.
On May 23 an HPD officer saw the black Jaguar SUV, and a passenger throw a dark bag out of the window.
The officer recovered the bag and allegedly found 102 grams of pure methamphetamine.
In the bag, the officer also found a loaded, homemade 9mm ghost gun pistol, seven rounds of Luger 9mm ammunition and four rounds of.40-caliber Smith and Wesson Hornady ammunition.
HPD pulled over Perkins-Sinapati at the intersection of Farrington Highway and Lualualei Homestead Road.
The officer saw ammunition in the cup holder of the Jaguar and recovered 49 rounds from the SUV. HPD arrested Perkins-Sinapati and his passenger on suspicion of multiple state gun charges.
A fanny pack found in the car had 45 grams of methamphetamine in it and $1, 721 in cash.
Perkins-Sinapati faces enhanced penalties if convicted in state court since he has prior felony convictions for car theft, robbery and promotion of a dangerous drug.
On May 4, 2024, at about 1 :13 p.m., Perkins-Sinapati fired a gun in a residential area near Ewa Makai Middle School.
The city agreed to pay $12.5 million to Perkins-Sinapati, the driver of a car that crashed on Sept. 12, 2021, in Makaha during a pursuit by Honolulu police officers who allegedly left the scene, only to return and act as if nothing happened.
A trial for the four Honolulu police officers accused of causing the car chase, crash and covering it up until an appeals court can rule on a claim by defense attorneys that the law the case hangs on is too vague.
Officers Joshua J.S. Nahulu, 37, Erik X.K. Smith, 25, and Jake R.T. Bartolome, 35, are free on bail after they were arrested nearly two years after the Sept. 12, 2021, incident, which left a teenager partially paralyzed and a career criminal with a traumatic brain injury.
A fourth officer, Robert G. Lewis III, whose age was not released by the department, also faces criminal charges in connection with the crash and cover-up.
Seven officers were disciplined in connection with the incident.
Nahulu, Smith and Barto lome were terminated but filed grievances against the department. The grievance process is being held in abeyance until the criminal cases are adjudicated.
Nahulu is charged with collisions involving death or serious bodily injury for allegedly causing the crash near the corner of Farring ton Highway and Orange Street that paralyzed Dayton Gouveia and left Perkins-Sinapati, driver of the white 2000 four-door Honda Civic that crashed, with a traumatic brain injury.
The Sept. 12, 2021, incident has cost taxpayers at least $24 million and is one of the most expensive civil matters in Honolulu history.
Perkins-Sinapati got $12.5 million, and city attorneys agreed to pay $7 million to Gouveia, a teenager who was partially paralyzed in the crash.
Four other passengers who sustained injuries in the early morning crash recently settled with the city for $4.5 million. Those passengers were 17, 18, 20 and 21 years old at the time of the crash.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Suspect arrested in Wahiawa barricade situation
After more than eight hours, Honolulu police said a 'barricade situation ' in Wahiawa has been resolved without injuries. At around 1 :34 a.m. today, the Oahu Department of Emergency Management issued an HNL Alert notifying the public of road closures in the areas of Koa Street, Kilani Avenue and North Cane Street in all directions due to an active police investigation. At around 5 a.m. today, HPD posted on social media that an investigation of a barricade situation was underway on Koa Street. In an update on social media Sunday at 10 :50 a.m., HPD said that just after 10 a.m. a male suspect surrendered to the police and was arrested for reckless endangering. HPD said no one was injured. See more : 1 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our. Having trouble with comments ? .
Miami Herald
19 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Will Trump abandon Miami's ‘Crazy Cubans'? Venezuela announces shift on U.S. strategy
The phones are ringing in Venezuela's Miraflores Presidential Palace — and someone in Washington is on the other end. That was the message this week from Venezuela's powerful Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello, who claimed that U.S. policy toward Venezuela is quietly but decisively shifting — and leaving some of Florida's most influential voices out in the cold. In a nationally televised address, Cabello said Donald Trump no longer needs support from Miami's hardline Cuban-American House Representatives, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Jimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart, mocking them as the 'Crazy Cubans' and suggesting they've been tossed aside like yesterday's talking points. 'Trump has politically abandoned the so-called 'Crazy Cubans,'' Cabello said, claiming they could be sidelined in next year's midterm elections. 'Despite their lobbying for more attacks, Washington is forming a wall — a wall of containment. And it's not the kind they wanted.' Instead, Cabello says a powerful coalition — including major U.S. corporations and senior Republican strategists—is now pushing for a different approach: a deal with Nicolás Maduro's regime. According to an unnamed source he called 'Charlot,' key Trump advisers believe it's time to pivot — to talk, not fight. To make a deal, not trigger another standoff. Cabello, who controls the regime's security apparatus, is considered to be the most powerful man in Venezuela after Maduro. Both have been accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of turning the country into a narco state while using their positions in government to run the so called De Los Soles drug cartel. In January, the State Department increased its reward for their capture to $25 million each, the highest available for a drug offense. The idea of cutting any deal with Maduro is political dynamite in Florida, where more than 350,000 Venezuelan Americans have made their homes and where emotions over Venezuela's collapse on the hands of the Maduro regime run deep. Two options for Trump's White House? But a new report from the Atlantic Council lays out the stark choice facing the White House: double down on pressure — or try something new. Option one: Offer the Caracas socialist regime a path out. Loosen targeted sanctions in exchange for real reforms. Get cooperation on migration. Open space for American oil companies to operate — especially in a country with the world's largest proven reserves. Florida-based businesses could benefit, and so could drivers at the pump. Option two: Hit Maduro harder. Cut off all oil deals. Indict his top officials. Punish foreign firms that do business with the regime. The goal: create so much internal pressure that something—someone—breaks. Supporters of the hardline path say history has shown Maduro can't be trusted. 'We've been here before,' said one Latin America analyst. 'He negotiates, he stalls, and he consolidates. Meanwhile, people starve or flee.' But critics of the pressure-only model point to the fallout back home: Florida's social services are strained by a new migrant wave, housing costs are rising, and local governments are overwhelmed. Cabello claims high-level communication between Caracas and Washington is already underway. 'Phones are ringing—and they're being answered in Miraflores,' he said, adding that this secret diplomacy is 'deeply unsettling' to opposition figures, including its top leader, María Corina Machado. For longtime South Florida political players, Cabello's comments are a shocking claim. Trump built his Venezuela policy during his first term around sanctions, oil freezes, and criminal indictments — earning loyal support from Miami's exile community. If he's now rethinking that approach, it could trigger serious political blowback in the Sunshine State. As of now, both strategies appear to be running on parallel tracks in Washington. According to an article published last week by The New York Times, a high-level effort to free a group of detained Americans and dozens of Venezuelan political prisoners collapsed earlier this year due to internal conflict within the Trump administration. Sources cited by the newspaper said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was leading advanced negotiations with Venezuela to exchange approximately 250 Venezuelan migrants — previously deported from the United States and held in El Salvador — for 11 American citizens and about 80 political prisoners incarcerated by the Maduro regime. The plan, coordinated by U.S. diplomat John McNamara, had progressed to the point where flights were scheduled and logistics were set by May. However, the operation fell apart after Richard Grenell, Trump's special envoy to Venezuela, launched a parallel negotiation with a different proposal, which included lifting oil sanctions in exchange for the release of detained Americans. Grenell's plan — which was not coordinated with Rubio or the State Department — involved renewing Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela, offering crucial economic relief to Maduro's regime. The proposal reportedly attracted interest in Caracas but clashed with Rubio's diplomatic approach, spurring confusion among officials in both countries. As for who was truly representing President Trump, Venezuelan authorities were unclear. The discord echoed similar internal struggles during Trump's first term, when competing factions often pursued their own foreign policy agendas. 'The feeling we had as parents was that there were several people talking, but they weren't working together — one negotiator said one thing, and another said something different,' underscored Petra Castañeda, whose son, a Navy SEAL, is detained in Venezuela, in an interview withThe New York Times.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Charges dropped against Utah doctor accused of throwing away $28,000 in COVID vaccine doses
The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction. Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey and dispose of government property; and aiding and abetting in those efforts. The charges were brought when Joe Biden was president. 'Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,' Bondi wrote. 'He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.' Felice John Viti, acting U.S. attorney for Utah, filed the motion Saturday, saying 'such dismissal is in the interests of justice.' The trial began Monday in Salt Lake City with jury selection. It was expected to last 15 days. Messages sent to the U.S. Department of Justice, Viti's office in Salt Lake City and to Moore were not immediately returned Saturday to The Associated Press. A federal grand jury on Jan. 11, 2023, returned an indictment against Moore, his Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc., others associated with the clinic and a neighbor of Moore's. The indictment alleged more than $28,000 of government-provided COVID-19 vaccine doses were destroyed. They were also accused of providing fraudulently completed vaccination record cards for over 1,900 doses of the vaccine in exchange for either a cash or a donation to a specified charitable organization. The government also alleged some children were given saline shots, at their parents' request, so the minors believed they were getting the vaccine. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation's top health official, posted his support for Moore in April, saying on X that Moore "deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing!' During his confirmation hearings in January, Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don't cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives. ___ Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
