Hawaii’s corrupt former police chief not only got caught stealing $148,000 and framing his own relative but also still collects a $150,000 annual pension on the taxpayers’ dime while serving his prison sentence.
At a Glance
● Former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha is collecting a $150,000 annual pension while serving a seven-year federal prison sentence for corruption.
● Kealoha and his wife, a former prosecutor, were convicted of stealing over $148,000 and framing a relative for a crime he did not commit.
● When the federal investigation began, top city officials gave Kealoha a secret $250,000 “golden parachute” to retire quietly.
● A new Hawaii law allowing for the forfeiture of pensions for corrupt officials does not apply retroactively to Kealoha’s case.
A Pension Plan for a Crooked Cop
Only in a government swamp could a convicted felon sit in a prison cell while collecting a six-figure, taxpayer-funded pension. The saga of former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha represents everything wrong with public sector accountability. The crooked cop is currently serving a seven-year federal prison sentence for stealing from his own family and framing a relative, yet he continues to receive a cushy $150,000 annual pension, courtesy of the very taxpayers he betrayed.
This outrageous situation is the result of a corrupt system that consistently protects its own, even when their crimes are exposed for all to see.
A Secret $250,000 “Golden Parachute”
The story began when Kealoha and his wife, Katherine Kealoha, a city prosecutor, stole over $148,000 from her grandmother and two children for whom she was a legal guardian. When an uncle threatened to expose their scheme, the Kealohas used their power and police resources to frame him for the theft of their own mailbox.
When the FBI began investigating the Kealohas for corruption in 2017, top Honolulu city officials didn’t cooperate. Instead, as detailed by the Associated Press, they orchestrated a secret $250,000 severance payout to induce the chief to retire quietly and to avoid negative publicity for the city.
The Absurd Math of Corruption
The cover-up eventually unraveled, leading to the convictions of not only the Kealohas but also the high-ranking city officials who arranged the secret payout. But in a twist that perfectly encapsulates government “accountability,” while the officials were ordered to repay the $250,000, the city of Honolulu—meaning the taxpayers—was ordered to reimburse them over $300,000 for their legal fees.
Meanwhile, a new state law that would allow for the pensions of corrupt officials to be clawed back conveniently does not apply retroactively to Kealoha’s case. As noted by the watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com, this means the disgraced former police chief will continue to collect his $150,000-a-year pension for the rest of his life, a galling insult to the taxpayers of Hawaii and a perfect illustration of a system designed to protect itself.
