Federal judge Frances Tydingco Gatewood accepted a guilty plea from William Mantanona, whose brother, John "Boom" Mantanona is the main defendant in a larger drug conspiracy with ties to a massive public and Police corruption case.
The investigation has been run secretly out of Hawaii and a grand jury there.
Meanwhile, Boom Mantanona appeared before District Court Judge Ramona V. Manglona today for a hearing on his outstanding Motion to Compel Discovery. The judge denied the motion as he rendered it moot since the US Attorney had already provided the information Boom Mantanona was seeking such as the full names of the government's confidential informants. According to the Motion to Compel Discovery, defense attorneys determined via previously provided discovery that the three informants who cooperated against Boom Mantanona were known drug distributors with the initials VR, EA and AW. According to the minute proceedings released by the Court today, jury selection will begin August 1, 2020 for his trial.
Local media has concentrated on the jury tampering portion of Mr. Mantanona's charges, however those charges are incidental to the larger drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
This is a developing story.
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