A former official with the Laborers' International Union Local 368 overwhelmingly defeated his opponent in an election to pick a new business manager, but whether he will be allowed to assume that position is still up in the air.

Oliver Kupau III, a former business representative, and William Naone Jr. were vying for the Local 368's top position. The union's 3,500 members were sent ballots in March and given until May 17 to return their votes.

But Naone challenged Kupau's eligibility to seek office because of Kupau's 2002 money laundering conviction in connection with an illegal cockfighting operation. Kupau was sentenced to four months in prison, four months of home detention and three years of supervised release.

The ballots were impounded for 90 days while Kupau's eligibility was being resolved. On June 9, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards ruled that Kupau was ineligible to run for union office and also could not be employed by the Local 368 because of his criminal history

The department said federal law prohibited Kupau from being employed by the union or having any decision-making authority with the union. The restrictions are valid for 13 years after Kupau was released from prison, the department said.

Kupau filed an appeal in U.S. District Court and asked a judge to overturn the Labor Department's ruling. The appeal is set to be heard next month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department and Local 368 agreed to count the 1,459 ballots yesterday at the union's Palama Street headquarters. After hours of tallying, the results showed Kupau soundly defeating Naone, 1,066 to 361, according to results posted on the union's Web site.

Although the membership selected Kupau, he must receive a favorable ruling by a federal judge before he can return to the union.

Kupau could not be reached for comment yesterday. Naone declined to comment.

The election dispute was another blow to the Local 368, which was placed under "emergency trusteeship" by the International Union in January 2007.

At that time, local union officials were accused of financial mismanagement and the International Union seized control of the organization and appointed trustees to run the day-to-day operations.