He called himself "the godfather" and "big braddah" and Robert H. Kaialau III's goal was to control all illegal casino-style gambling operations on O'ahu, according to testimony in the first day of Kaialau's trial on federal racketeering charges.

Kaialau, 37, was indicted in March and has been held without bail since then because prosecutors argued that he was a danger to the community.

He was indicted in 2004 on related state charges connected to the vicious beating of security guards at a Young Street gambling operation, but those charges were dropped after federal law enforcement took up the investigation.

The Young Street attack was related to another, even more violent altercation in January 2004 at the Pali Golf Course parking lot in which two men were shot dead and another critically wounded. Kaialau was not charged in that case, but prosecutors believe he has information about it, according to documents filed in Kaialau's case.

One of the men attacked in the Young Street gaming room, Tino Sao, was shot in the head at the Pali Golf Course but survived.

Kaialau, of Nanakuli, is a former nightclub bouncer who owned his own security guard company and drug testing business. He has involved himself in community issues, urging closure of the city operated landfill on the Leeward Coast and researching alternative methods of waste disposal.

He has adamantly protested his innocence, arguing unsuccessfully that he is the victim of prosecutorial misconduct.

All 10 other men charged with him in the federal case have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him.

The first to take the stand yesterday was Nepo "Sonny" Leutu, a burly former boxer and street fighter who works as a swimming pool manager for the city.

He said he first met Kaialau in 2000 and was recruited to work as a bouncer at the Exotic Nights nightclub, earning between $100 and $500 per night.

That was considerably more than the average bouncer's pay, Leutu told the prosecutor, Thomas Brady.

"I'm more expensive. I have a reputation for keeping trouble out," Leutu said, describing himself as 6 feet tall and weighing 315 pounds.

"I've been a boxer all my life," Leutu said. "I fought at the Blaisdell 17 times. Undefeated."

Leutu testified that he participated in one of the Kaialau group's violent attacks on the operators and guards of a Kapi'olani Boulevard gambling game in August 2003, but refused to go along on another raid in June 2003 at a Young Street game.

Kaialau passed out several T-shirts that said "HPD" on them and gave one member of the group, Tamafaiga Soi — also known as "Flex" — a ski mask, according to court documents. Guards at the Young Street operation opened the door after Soi banged on it and identified himself as a police officer, according to the prosecution.

"This ski mask thing, HPD shirts, it was crazy, too much for me," Leutu said in court.

Leutu said Kaialau was "my boss and like a friend to me," a man who he both respected and feared. He said Kaialau "had money, he had cars, he had contacts."

Among the contacts were "friends" inside the Honolulu Police Department who would do favors such as "run license plates" for Kaialau, Leutu testified.

"He introduced me to some of them," Leutu testified.

Also testifying against Kaialau yesterday was another co-defendant, Solomon York, a former football player at Saint Louis School and later at Snow College in Utah.

He has pleaded guilty to four counts of using violent crime in aid of racketeering and is awaiting sentencing.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.