A 33-year-old Puna man is in federal custody, accused of using the mail to import almost 4 ounces of crystal methamphetamine to the Big Island from California. ADVERTISING A 33-year-old Puna man is in federal custody, accused of using the
A 33-year-old Puna man is in federal custody, accused of using the mail to import almost 4 ounces of crystal methamphetamine to the Big Island from California.
Michael Keoni Totman of Pahoa was arrested by local police and federal authorities at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at his Ainaloa Way home, according to a police log. He was turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and taken to Honolulu, where he was charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, according to the complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki said Friday afternoon the charge carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction. He said Totman would make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday. No plea would be entered in that court appearance.
“The next step would be a grand jury indictment,” Enoki said. “… The matter (will be) set for a preliminary hearing, but there is no preliminary hearing if the indictment occurs (first), which is generally what happens.”
A DEA affidavit accompanying the complaint states an express mail parcel addressed to a rural route delivery box without an addressee’s name in Pahoa was flagged Wednesday in Honolulu by postal inspectors. The return address had only a first name and last initial in Azusa, Calif.
The parcel, according to the document, was found to contain 120 grams of methamphetamine. A local police source said the current street value of the drug is about $200 a gram, making that quantity worth about $24,000.
A federal warrant was obtained to install and monitor a beeper in the parcel, the document states, and a controlled delivery was set up. The meth was removed from the package and a “pseudo-methamphetamine substance was substituted in its stead.”
Under the direction of postal inspectors, a delivery/pickup notice was placed Thursday in the rural route box along Ainaloa Boulevard, stating the parcel could be picked at the Pahoa Post Office.
The document states that early Thursday afternoon, “a local male later identified as Michael Totman” retrieved the notice and took it to the post office. When asked by a postal worker for identification, Totman allegedly said he didn’t have any and signed for the parcel as “Dillion Raymond.”
Officers and agents followed Totman to his home and waited nearby for the beeper to go off, signaling the parcel had been opened, which happened at about 2:15 p.m, according to the document. Officers and agents entered the house about three minutes later and detained Totman, who was the only person present.
A search warrant was then obtained for the residence. Officers seized, in addition to the substitute substance, “numerous anabolic steroids, approximately 62 marijuana plants in pots in the backyard, a digital scale, a glass pipe, small amounts of marijuana, and numerous money receipts,” the document stated.
Enoki said the U.S. Attorney’s office will seek to have Totman detained without bail and a hearing will be set to hear that motion.
Totman is in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
