A prosecution witness in the federal racketeering trial of Ethan "Malu" Motta and Rodney Joseph Jr. testified yesterday that Motta wanted to re-create the underworld organization once headed by his uncle, Leeward Coast organized crime boss Charles Kapela Stevens.

The testimony came from Dennis Tadio, who is serving an 87-month federal prison sentence for attempting in 2007 to intimidate another man scheduled to testify in the racketeering trial.

Tadio said yesterday that he grew up on O'ahu's Leeward Coast and was familiar with Joseph and Motta.

Joseph is also a nephew of Charles Stevens, who died in federal prison after admitting guilt in 1992 to an underworld double homicide. Stevens had originally been acquitted in 1981 in that murder case by state Circuit Judge Harold Shintaku, but Stevens admitted 11 years later that he had bribed the judge to grant him the acquittal.

Shintaku committed suicide in 1989 by jumping out of a Las Vegas hotel window after he had slashed his wrists.

Tadio testified that Motta asked Tadio to obtain a gun as part of Motta's plans to create a criminal group like the one Stevens headed.

Tadio's cross examination by defense lawyers for Motta and Joseph was delayed until today.

Tadio worked as a security guard for Joseph and Motta, protecting illegal gambling operations on O'ahu, according to the prosecution. In 2007, he attempted to intimidate another member of that group, Faimafili Lulu, who is scheduled to be a witness in the trial, according to federal court records.

Tadio allegedly threatened to kill Lulu while Lulu was working at the Venus Night Club on Kapi'olani Boulevard.

Last year, Tadio was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for witness tampering and was brought from prison to testify in court yesterday.

Joseph and Motta are accused of being members of a racketeering group that used murder, extortion and robbery to control illegal gambling casinos in Hawai'i.

They allegedly murdered two members of a rival group Jan. 7, 2004, in the parking lot of the Pali Golf Course.