August 30, 2024, 10:50 AM HST
* Updated August 30, 2:42 PM
A former Waiākea High School boys’ basketball coach is facing charges after allegedly collecting more than $3,000 from team members’ parents for a trip and keeping the money for himself.
A bench warrant was issued for Justin Alika Pekelo Smith’s arrest on Thursday. The Department of the Attorney General has charged the 48-year-old with second-degree theft and one count of negotiating a worthless negotiable instrument.
Smith was employed as a coach at Waiākea from November 2021 to November 2022. Before his coaching job, Smith was an educational assistant at Kalaheo High School in Honolulu from school years 2013-14 to 2021-22.
“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.”
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 from the team members’ parents and kept the money for himself.
According to the attorney general, Smith allegedly paid the company only $500 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.
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.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
