(BIVN) – Former Waiākea High School basketball coach Justin Alika Pekelo Smith, 48, has been charged with one count of Theft in the Second Degree and one count Negotiating a Worthless Negotiable Instrument.
From the Department of the Attorney General:
As alleged in the charging document, Smith engaged a company to make hotel arrangements for a trip by the Waiākea High School boys’ basketball team, the cost of which was $3,788.75. Smith allegedly collected $3,627.00 from the team members’ parents and kept the money for himself. Smith allegedly paid the company only $500.00 and intentionally gave a check for the remainder of the balance owed knowing it would not be honored. As alleged, the check was returned for insufficient funds and Smith never paid the company the remaining balance.
The case was investigated and charged by the Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division. Smith was arrested by Hawaiʻi Police Department in the afternoon of August 29, 2024.
“The people of Hawaiʻi expect their public servants to act with honesty and integrity. When a public servant steals, the people’s faith in government is undermined,” said Acting Attorney General Matthew Dvonch, who is serving in that capacity while Attorney General Anne Lopez is out of state. “The Department of the Attorney General will prosecute all those who abuse their positions of trust.”
Theft in the Second Degree is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine not exceeding $10,000. Negotiating a Worthless Negotiable Instrument is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment and a fine not exceeding $2,000.
The case is State v. Smith, 3CPC-24-0000603. The prosecution is being handled by Deputy Attorney General Thomas Michener.
Smith is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Hawaiʻi News Now reports Smith was employed at Waiakea High as a coach from November 2021 to November 2022.
