The results of an election to pick a new leader of the local laborers' union are in question now that the U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that one of two candidates is ineligible because of his criminal record.

Oliver Kupau III was seeking the position of business manager with the 3,500-member Laborers' International Union Local 368 in Hawai'i. His opponent was William Naone Jr. and their names appeared on a ballot mailed to members in March.

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

While on supervised release, Kupau was allowed to continue working for Local 368. He also was nominated for the business manager position and his selection was sanctioned by Joseph Guerrieri Jr., a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who was appointed to oversee the elections.

Following Naone's protest to the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards, however, Guerrieri ordered the ballots impounded until Kupau's eligibility could be resolved. The deadline for union members to return ballots was May 17.

In a letter dated June 9, R. Bruce Edgington, Office of Labor-Management Standards district director, wrote that Kupau was not eligible to run for union office because of the conviction. In fact, Edgington wrote, federal law prohibits Kupau from being employed by the Local 368 or having any decision-making authority with the union.

The restrictions are valid for 13 years after Kupau's release from prison, Edgington wrote.

He also said that a willful violation of these rules would be a violation of federal law and punishable by up to five years in prison.

The letter was posted at the Local 368's headquarters on Palama Street yesterday.

Kupau declined comment yesterday. Naone also did not want to discuss the ruling.

It was not known yesterday what Edgington's ruling will mean for the election. In addition to the race for business manager, several other seats were on the ballot.

Edgington could not be reached yesterday.

The ruling on Kupau's eligibility is the latest blow for the Local 368, which was put under "emergency trusteeship" by the International Union in January 2007 after local union officials were accused of financial mismanagement.

The officials, who have been removed, were accused of spending more than $450,000 on trips to the Philippines and giving preference to friends and relatives for construction jobs.

The International Union seized control of the local organization and appointed trustees to run the day-to-day operations. Earlier this year, the International Union deemed that Local 368 was ready to resume control of the operations and held nominations for officers.