"There is organized crime in Hawai'i," a federal prosecutor said after Robert H. Kaialau III was convicted yesterday of four counts of racketeering violence related to control of illegal gambling games here.

Kaialau, 37, faces up to 80 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Ezra on March 24.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady, who prosecuted Kaialau, said after the verdict, "The federal government will confront organized crime and we will defeat it."

He praised the work of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in investigating the case against Kaialau and 10 other co-defendants originally charged in the case.

"But as usual, the heavy lifting was done by the Honolulu Police Department, especially the Criminal Intelligence Unit," Brady said.

Defense attorney Rustam Barbee declined comment.

The charges against Kaialau were related to vicious beatings he and his associates administered to security guards and managers of two illegal casino-style gambling operations in Honolulu in mid-2003.

All 10 other men indicted with Kaialau in the case eventually pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him.

One of them, former professional boxer and streetfighter Nepo "Sonny" Leutu, testified during the trial that Kaialau called himself "the godfather" and regularly played the soundtrack from "The Godfather" series of films when driving around town in his car.

Leutu said Kaialau was "my boss and like a friend to me," a man that he respected and feared. He said Kaialau "had money, he had cars, he had contacts."

Among the contacts were "friends" inside the Honolulu Police Department who would do favors such as "run license plates" for Kaialau, Leutu testified.

Kaialau, of Nanakuli, is a former nightclub bouncer who owned his own security guard company and drug-testing business. He has involved himself in community issues, urging closure of the city-operated landfill on the Leeward Coast and researching alternative methods of waste disposal.

He adamantly protested his innocence, arguing unsuccessfully that he was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct.

According to court documents that Kaialau himself made public before the case went to trial, he is a suspect in the disappearance and presumed murder of entertainment promoter Carlos Carrillo here in 2000.

Carrillo has never been seen since he was involved in an altercation with Kaialau and others at the Evolution Waikiki nightclub. No one has ever been charged with a crime in connection with that incident.

Brady offered Kaialau a plea deal that included a promise not to seek an indictment of Kaialau "related to the murder of Carlos Vincente Carrillo," according to paperwork filed by Kaialau.

While Kaialau was in federal custody awaiting trial, dozens of family members and friends, including several retired and active Honolulu police officers, wrote letters to the court urging that he be allowed to post bail.

But the government argued that Kaialau should not be allowed bail because he posed a danger to society.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.