Drug Inquiry Leads to Arrest of 5 in Hawaii

Five Hawaiians have been arrested on Los Angeles County drug charges stemming from an undercover investigation that began in the Antelope Valley, the county Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

The five were arrested Wednesday at the Sheraton Maui in Kaanapali, Hawaii, where they had met undercover deputies to complete a deal begun in the Antelope Valley to buy 50 pounds of marijuana.

Joseph Feigelson, 40; Steven Richard Wickers, 46; John Steven Bernstein, 33; Lynn Diana Holter, 42, and Michael Edward Cleveland, 46, face charges of conspiracy to transport and sell marijuana.

They are to be returned to Los Angeles to face the charges, said Steve Cooley, deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.

Although authorities in Maui can also file charges in the case, the five will probably not be prosecuted there, said John Tam, deputy prosecuting attorney for Maui County.

Feigelson was in custody in Maui County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, Maui police said.

The other four were released after posting $10,000 bail.

For years, Hawaii had been an exporter of high-grade marijuana to California, but an extensive eradication program in the island state during the 1980s eliminated much of the crop, said Capt. Tom Phillips, head of the narcotics unit of the Maui County Police Department.