Former Kauai County Councilman Arthur Brun pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he led a methamphetamine ring supplied by the United Samoan Organization, a gang that operates in and out of the Hawaii prison system.

Brun was a sitting member of the Kauai County Council in 2020 when he was arrested on multiple felony charges that include distributing meth, firearms violations and assaulting a law enforcement officer.

“Arthur Brun is a good person that made a bad mistake,” said Rustam Barbee, Brun’s defense attorney. “He was addicted to methamphetamine and he acknowledges and will atone for his mistake by serving a lengthy prison sentence.”

As part of a plea deal worked out between Brun’s lawyers and federal prosecutors, Brun would serve a 15-year prison sentence.

If the judge does not accept the agreement, Barbee said Brun’s guilty plea will be withdrawn and negotiations will begin again.

Brun, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, appeared in court Wednesday via video from the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.