LIHU‘E — Orlando “Ole” Manguchei admitted last week to conspiring with former Kaua‘i County Councilmember Arthur Brun to possess a firearm and ammunition as a felon.
Manguchei — who has twice escaped custody and is tied to a Kaua‘i Humane Society dog heist — will be face up to five years prison time and a fine of up to $250,000, per his voluntary plea agreement.
The 51-year-old was one of the 11 suspects indicted in February 2020 along with Brun, who admitted last November to running a drug-trafficking ring on Kaua‘i.
Manguchei has long been involved with Brun, acting as muscle and collecting drug debts on the former councilmember’s behalf as far back as the early 2000s, according to court documents.
The incident addressed in the plea occurred in 2019, when Brun made efforts to obtain an unregistered firearm for Manguchei’s use shortly after he had been released from prison on a federal felony offense.
“No, not registered….my friend coming from O‘ahu he like go hunt that’s why,” Brun said on the phone while speaking to another man not charged in the indictment. “That’s for Orlando, that’s why,” he said later in the conversation.
Shortly afterward, Manguchei sent a text offering to help Brun collect drug debts again, which Brun did not accept at the time.
The next day, Brun and Manguchei spoke on the phone, with Brun explaining that he had a line on a firearm.
Brun, as a councilmember, actually worked to secure funding for the wiretap services used to record these conversations.
Manguchei has a rap sheet going back to 1994, having served time for DUIs, harassment, drug charges and firearms violations.
He has escaped extended-furlough custody twice in the last decade — first in 2015, when he went missing from a transitional home in Kapa‘a while serving time for threats and drug charges. Manguchei was not discovered until June 16, 2016, when vice officers found him along with four dogs that had recently been reported missing from the Kaua‘i Humane Society.
While doing time for weapons charges, Manguchei, while on work furlough in 2019, escaped custody and was apprehended after a week-long manhunt through the mountains near Wailua.
Brun agreed to a 15-year prison sentence for charges ranging from weapons violations to possession and distribution of meth, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and evidence- and witness-tampering. Brun said in his plea that he sold drugs to support his addiction. His sentencing statement is scheduled for March 24.
This story was updated for grammar and accuracy.
