A 53-year-old Hilo man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from alleged sales of methamphetamine in 2014.
A 53-year-old Hilo man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from alleged sales of methamphetamine in 2014.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Michael Al Miyasato to appear for trial at 9 a.m. March 16. He was indicted in September by a Hilo grand jury on four counts of attempted first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree, attempted second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, five counts of promoting a dangerous drug in the third-degree and six counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Miyasato was in custody during his arraignment in lieu of $236,500 bail.
According to a police spokeswoman, Miyasato sold 3.9 grams of methamphetamine, in street parlance an “eight ball” for 1/8 ounce, to a confidential informant on three separate occasions in May 2014. A search warrant also was served May 29, 2014, on an Awa Street home. Officers seized what was thought to be 11 plastic packets of meth, or “ice,” weighing 16.7 grams, a small amount of cocaine, four small bags of marijuana packaged for sale and 48.5 grams of a marijuana extract.
Defense attorney Justin Haspe, filling in for Honolulu attorney Michael Green, asked the judge to grant Miyasato supervised release or a bail reduction, arguing Miyasato has a verified residence and employment and that he was last convicted of contempt of court in 1996.
Deputy Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen requested the court confirm Miyasato’s bail, arguing the high bail amount is appropriate.
“Here, the defendant was indicted with four Class A (felony) drug offenses related to the distribution of methamphetamine and an additional 10 Class C felony drug offenses,” Waltjen said. “The defendant has a previous Hawaii state conviction for promoting a dangerous drug in the third-degree, for which he was sentenced to a five-year prison term on June 29, 2007. And, more importantly, the defendant has three federal felony convictions, all related to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, for which the defendant was sentenced to a concurrent 51-month prison sentence on April 2, 2007.”
Nakamura maintained Miyasato’s bail and ordered him to undergo a substance abuse assessment, submit to random drug testing and to not contact, threaten or harm the complaining witness in the case.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.