A former Maui Police Department officer who repeatedly tased an arrestee who was not resisting has been sentenced to 65 months in federal prison, closing a high-profile case that has put Maui policing practices under the microscope. A federal judge handed down the sentence on Friday to 41-year-old Carlos Frate, who was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release for the Kīhei incident that prosecutors say took place on Jan. 6, 2024. Frate had pleaded guilty last August to depriving the victim of rights under color of law, a federal civil-rights crime that grew out of both a local investigation and a federal probe.
According to the Department of Justice, Frate admitted in his plea agreement that he knew his use of force was unjustified but kept firing his Taser anyway, even as the arrestee begged him to stop. The Justice Department said the FBI stepped in after a referral from the Maui Police Department, and that the case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii along with the Civil Rights Division.
Maui Now reported the terms of Frate’s guilty plea in August 2025 and detailed the sequence of events, while the Honolulu Star-Advertiser covered the earlier federal indictment and noted that the Maui Police Department fired Frate after a grand jury returned charges. Local coverage and court records show the case moved from an internal MPD inquiry to a full-blown federal investigation last year.
What prosecutors said
"The defendant's acts were abusive and unbecoming of the oath he swore to protect the public," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said, while U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson added that "today's sentence should serve as a reminder that no one is above the law," according to the Justice Department. FBI Special Agent in Charge David Porter said Frate’s use of force betrayed community trust and stressed that the FBI will continue to pursue allegations of officer misconduct.
Legal context and local impact
Frate pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal statute used when authorities say an officer crossed constitutional lines during an arrest. The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years, but the judge imposed a 65-month term after weighing federal sentencing factors and the terms of the plea agreement. The sentence closes the federal criminal chapter of the case; any remaining local administrative or civil proceedings tied to the incident are separate from the federal prosecution.
