Photo: United States District Court
Honolulu-based defense attorney Myles Briener has gained recognition in Hawaii for taking on high-profile clients and cases in recent years. In 2021, Breiner represented Nicholas Ochs, the founder of Hawaii’s Proud Boys chapter who landed in court in 2021 after his participation in the violence that took place at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Breiner also represented Louis and Katherine Kealoha, a former police chief and deputy prosecutor in Honolulu who were indicted for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and drug charges in 2017.
Ochs was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to obstructing a federal proceeding, but was later pardoned by President Trump in January of 2025. Louis Kealoha was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2021 but is set to be released today, May 18, 2026, for good behavior. Katherine Kealoha is still currently serving a 13-year sentence.
Briener’s latest high-profile client is Igor Lytvynchuk, a naturalized citizen and business owner in Washington state facing charges of violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act after he threw a large rock at a Hawaiian monk seal in Lahaina. In the week between Lytvynchuk going viral, declaring he’s rich and could pay any fines associated with his actions, and finally being arrested and charged in Washington, no statements were made defending or explaining the incident from his perspective. At one point, a crisis management PR firm working for Lytvynchuk reached out to The Inertia requesting his name be removed from any of our reporting. We asked if the request meant Lytvynchuk was denying it was him in the viral video, and were given no response. So, what would the Maui tourist’s defense be once he finally appeared in court or made his first public comments?
According to Briener, he was attempting to save…sea turtles.
“There were two large turtles in the water. When he threw the rock, the intention was to scare the seal away. He had no idea, again, the significance of monk seals. He frankly didn’t know we had seals in Hawaii,” Breiner told Hawaii media.“He assumed that when he saw the seal, the monk seal, pushing the turtles off of the rocks, that he was doing something good by scaring it away.”
Briener also explained that Lytvynchuk is “devastated at the notion that people thought he wanted to hurt the seal.” And he also pushed back against the idea that the Washington businessman is wealthy, contrary to his own viral claim that, “I don’t care, I’m rich,” when confronted.
“It comes off sounding like he’s bragging or being arrogant. OK, and that was possibly in response to people yelling at him and he was embarrassed, so he doubled down,” Breiner said.
Rich or not, defense attorneys who represent high-profile clients don’t typically come cheap. And that PR crisis management firm working to scrub Lytvynchuk’s name before charges had officially been reported, Red Banyan, touts itself as one of the world’s leading agencies in crisis management. While exact project costs aren’t posted online, several online sources list a baseline $10,000 retainer fee for agency’s services. You might assume a $50,000 fine ($70,000 maximum for both charges combined) could pale in comparison to the costs of litigation and public relations once it’s all said and done.
