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Convicted Ex-Honolulu Police Chief Files For Divorce

Cory Lum
/
Civil Beat
FILE -- Katherine and Louis Kealoha

A retired Honolulu police chief convicted of conspiracy in Hawaii's biggest corruption case wants a divorce from his wife and co-defendant, a former city prosecutor.

Louis Kealoha filed for divorce Tuesday, according to court records.

A jury in June convicted him and Katherine Kealoha of conspiracy in a plot to frame her uncle to keep him from revealing fraud that financed their lavish lifestyle. The Kealohas are facing another trial for bank fraud and identity theft.

Prosecutors say Katherine Kealoha bilked banks, relatives and children whose trusts she controlled.

The Kealohas have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is scheduled for January. An attorney for Katherine Kealoha says they are negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors.

Katherine Kealoha faces a third trial on drug-dealing charges with her pain physician brother. She and her brother, Dr. Rudolph Puana, have pleaded not guilty.

The Kealohas have often arrived at court together holding hands and wearing color-coordinated outfits.

The two met while getting their master's degrees in criminal justice administration at Chaminade University, a small Catholic school in Honolulu, according to a 2010 Mid-Week newspaper article about how the new chief was instilling Native Hawaiian values while leading the police force.

Court hearings have aired evidence of Katherine Kealoha allegedly lavishing bilked money on a firefighter lover.

According to his divorce complaint, Louis Kealoha is representing himself. Under the section "grounds," Kealoha checked the box for "The marriage is irretrievably broken."

The Kealohas have a college-aged daughter.

Defense attorneys for the Kealohas couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

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