Kevin "Poncho" Gonsalves pleaded guilty this morning to federal racketeering offenses including the Jan. 7, 2004 murder of Romilius Corpuz Jr. in the parking lot of the Pali municipal golf course.

"Things happened. I ended up shooting Junior Corpuz," Gonsalves told U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.

Under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Gonsalves faces 27 1/2 years in prison when he is sentenced by Mollway on Dec. 1.

Mollway previously balked twice at approving the plea deal, saying she was concerned that federal law required a sentence of life in prison for a murder conviction.

After Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady filed documents under seal explaining and justifying the plea arrangement, Mollway this morning said she was satisfied with it.

Two other defendants in the case, Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan "Malu" Motta, previously reached the same plea deals with the government but withdrew them after Mollway first questioned them in July.

They are scheduled to go to trial next month, but plea negotiations are continuing, lawyers involved in the case said yesterday.

Mollway warned that time is running short: her office will have to send out nearly 1,000 questionnaires to potential jurors in the near future.

The Pali shootings erupted over competition between rival groups providing protection to illegal gambling games on Oahu.

The defendants have admitted shooting Corpuz and Lepo Utu Taliese to death. A third man, Tinoimalu Sao, was shot in the head but survived.

Sao's uncle, Mike Sao, told The Advertiser his family is unhappy with the plea deal and believes the defendants should be imprisoned for life.

"A life for a life," he said.

Prosecutor Brady said, "A lot of family members are naturally upset but I'm not going to comment now on what they have said."