Arthur Brun was serving his second term as a Kauai councilman when he and 11 others were arrested last year on multiple felony charges. Kauai County

Former Kauai County Councilman Arthur Brun pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he led a methamphetamine ring supplied by the United Samoan Organization, a gang that operates in and out of the Hawaii prison system.

Brun was a sitting member of the Kauai County Council in 2020 when he was arrested on multiple felony charges that include distributing meth, firearms violations and assaulting a law enforcement officer.

“Arthur Brun is a good person that made a bad mistake,” said Rustam Barbee, Brun’s defense attorney. “He was addicted to methamphetamine and he acknowledges and will atone for his mistake by serving a lengthy prison sentence.”

As part of a plea deal worked out between Brun’s lawyers and federal prosecutors, Brun would serve a 15-year prison sentence.

If the judge does not accept the agreement, Barbee said Brun’s guilty plea will be withdrawn and negotiations will begin again.

Brun, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, appeared in court Wednesday via video from the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.

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