LIHU‘E — The final associate named in the federal indictment against former Kaua‘i County Councilmenver Arthur Brun pled guilty to a drug charge Wednesday.
Haidee Sueyasu, 45, formerly of Hanapepe, admitted to a federal court that she had coordinated with Brun in an attempt to distribute more than 50 grams of meth.
The charge comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years.
Brun was indicted in February 2020 with 11 others — including Sueyasu — and charged with felonies ranging from drug distribution, assault of a federal officer, attempting to obtain a weapon for a felon, and evidence and witness tampering.
The associates named alongside Brun have been steadily reaching plea agreements with prosecutors following the 2020 indictment, beginning with Kirsten Makanoe Ayau in December 2020. Ayau pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a quarter ounce of meth.
After enforcer Orlando Manguchei and distributor Steven Keli’ikuli reached plea deals last month, Sueyasu was the only one accused who had not yet reached an agreement.
An Oct. 29, 2019 wiretap picked up Sueyasu and the Brun speaking about the distribution of significant amounts of meth.
In one taping, Sueyasu mentioned that she could pay off $1,000 of a debt owed to Brun, who said:
“Let me know if you need more.”
The wiretap picked up two other conversations between the pair, discussing quantities and dollar values of meth.
Brun, who was at the time the vice-chair of the council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee helped fund the wiretap service that captured his conversations with Sueyasu.
Brun himself pled guilty to a spate of charges levied against him this November — but his plea deal was denied by a federal judge last month.
U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson deemed the 15-year sentence that Brun avetoed was too lenient. Brun and federal prosecutors now need to strike a harsher deal or the case will go to trial.
Sueyasu is already facing separate charges related to meth distribution.
She was indicted in March 2019 for possession of about an ounce of meth, a charge to which she has pled not guilty. That case is currently set for a jury trial on June 6 at the Fifth Circuit Court in Lihu‘e.
Sueyasu was previously arrested in August 2010 for first-degree meth trafficking and drug paraphernalia. She was among three co-defendants named in an 18-count indictment involving meth trafficking, cocaine, amphetamine, hydrocodone, diazepam, oxycodone, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Her sentencing in the Brun case is set for August 17.
