HONOLULU (KHON2) — Retired Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officer Niall Silva was sentenced to nine months in prison and one year of supervised release on Wednesday, Jan. 3, for his role in the infamous Kealoha case.
Silva accepted a plea deal and implicated other officers in a conspiracy to frame Gerard Puana, Katherine Kealoha’s uncle, for the theft of the Kealohas’ mailbox.
Federal prosecutors had recommended two years probation, 10 months of home detention and a $5,000 fine for for the retired HPD officer, stating that Silva had provided “substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of others.”
Hawaii County firefighter Jesse Ebersole — the last of the defendants to be sentenced — received two years probation, $5,500 fine and 500 hours of community service.
Ebersole pleaded guilty in July, 2018, to lying to the grand jury about having an affair with Katherine Kealoha. He agreed to testify at any and all trials as part of his plea deal and was asked by prosecutors to do so.
The Kealohas and two other police officers were convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Katherine was sentenced to 13 years, Louis received seven years.
