A 50-year-old career criminal is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court today on a conspiracy charge for her role in a scheme to defraud a man in his 90s of $20, 000.
The same woman also is facing a state charge for allegedly hitting a 75-year-old retired firefighter with a car.
Totie Nalani Tauala’s criminal history, which began in 1992, includes convictions for crimes involving violence, firearms, theft criminal contempt of court, repeated noncompliance with conditional or temporary release and repeated parole violations, according to federal court records.
She was indicted by a federal grand jury Oct. 31 for conspiracy in relation to the federal case and is in custody at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.
Tauala and Kalehuai williamekamaile “Maile ” Montez were originally charged by federal criminal complaint Oct. 20 with wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit fraud. Montez pleaded not guilty Nov. 19 in U.S. District Court, and Tauala pleaded not guilty Nov. 5. Montez has a scheduling conference on Aug. 19.
On Dec. 5, Tauala was placed on supervised release to travel for her mother’s medical appointments. Tauala was limited to point-to-point travel between her primary residence and the home she was repairing for her mother without deviation, unless she was given prior approval by Pretrial Services, according to federal court documents.
A week later, on Dec. 12, Pretrial Services requested that an arrest warrant be issued for Tauala because she violated her travel restrictions. On Dec. 16, Tauala’s supervised release was revoked.
Online crime cost Hawaii residents $55, 180, 901 last year with kupuna age 60 and over losing more than $18 million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2024 Internet Crime Report.
Kupuna in Hawaii over the age of 60 filed 647 complaints last year and lost $18, 851, 052. That is an increase from 453 complaints filed by Hawaii residents age 60 and over in 2023. The represented $27, 965, 497 in losses for seniors.
allegedly used more than $20, 000 of the victim’s money on cars, jewelry, sports memorabilia hardware and spa treatments.
According to an affidavit authored by a Honolulu police detective working as a task force officer for Homeland Security Investigations, between Feb. 12 and March 19, Tauala and Montez allegedly made “unauthorized purchases ” at Hawaii businesses using the credit card and check from the man, a driver’s license belonging to a California woman in her 30s, and the name of an Arizona woman in her 20s who visited Hawaii in 2023.
Law enforcement said that the “unauthorized purchases ” were discovered when the man’s caregiver and daughter were called by a credit card company about possible fraud.
Tauala was charged May 2 by the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney with one count of collisions involving death or serious bodily injury in connection with a separate hit-and-run incident in Aiea at 10 a.m. Sept. 27, 2024. In that case, Tauala allegedly hit a retired firefighter while he was behind his truck using a leaf blower to clean his property.
The former captain with the Honolulu Fire Department landed on the hood of his truck and then hit the sidewalk. Tauala allegedly fled the scene without stopping to render aid. The retired firefighter suffered a skull and rib fracture, traumatic brain injury, lower-back lumbar fractures and other injuries.
Tauala also has 14 prior state convictions including eight felonies.
She was convicted for manslaughter for the Aug. 21, 2002, fatal shooting of a man outside of Waipahu High School on Waipio Point Access Road.
During her manslaughter trial in 2004, but maintained she was under extreme mental and emotional stress when she shot him in his car outside Waipahu High School.
Tauala was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the jury rendered a verdict reducing the charge to a reckless, rather than intentional, killing.
Tauala told police that on the day of the shooting in 2002, Julio allegedly held a knife to her neck while stealing jewelry, money and drugs from her at a friend’s house in Waipahu. He later left the house in a car, and Tauala said that she followed when Julio motioned her to pull over near the high school.
Tauala testified in her own defense that Julio made sexual advances toward her, which brought up childhood trauma of a July 1994 sex assault.
Tauala was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the Julio shooting.
When Julio was shot, Tauala was illegally in possession of a firearm because she was on parole for a 1995 negligent homicide conviction. Tauala pleaded guilty in 1995 to driving under the influence and causing the death of a passenger in a November 1994 incident.