Kauai Woman Sentenced to 36 Months for Drug Trafficking

News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Hawaii, Friday, January 9, 2026

HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Trish Leila Henderson, 46, of Kauai, was sentenced yesterday in federal court by Senior United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to 36 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court records, Henderson was part of a conspiracy that was acquiring controlled substances through the U.S. mail and was engaged in the distribution of methamphetamine on Kauai. In total, Henderson was held responsible for over 22 pounds of methamphetamine.

Henderson is one of eleven defendants charged in three separate indictments for crimes related to the operation of a trans-Pacific drug trafficking network, nine of whom have pled guilty with the remaining awaiting trial.  The overall investigation yielded seizures of more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine, several kilograms of fentanyl and carfentanil, eight firearms, ammunition, and over $150,000 in cash.

At sentencing, Judge Kobayashi commented that Henderson had shown strong mitigating circumstances, including her drug treatment and her efforts to rebuild her community following the harm she had caused in distributing methamphetamine on Kauai.

Henderson is the third defendant in a nine-defendant indictment to be sentenced.  Her coconspirators, including those charged in other indictments, have been sentenced as follows:

• On April 30, 2025, in one of the related cases charged by separate indictment, Shawn Pauahi Santana was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and to distributing methamphetamine.
• On December 10, 2025, Faith Michelle Nelson was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
• On December 16, 2025, Francis Anthony Abergas, Jr., was sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm and ammunition after having been previously convicted of a felony.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Kauai, Maui, and Honolulu Police Departments, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret C. Nammar is prosecuting the case.