Former charter school principal Jeffrey Piontek is on probation but faces no prison time after pleading no contest to charges that he stole more than $136,000 in public school funds to pay for personal expenses, from first-class tickets to Australia to $5,642 at a Las Vegas strip club.
Piontek, who led Hawaii Technology Academy from 2010 through 2011, apologized for his “inexcusable choices” and was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge Glenn Kim to four years of probation. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the school.
A sentencing memorandum filed by the prosecution detailed the spending spree Piontek enjoyed during his stint at the Waipahu-based school, using the school’s credit and debit cards as a piggy bank for travel, meals and entertainment for himself, his girlfriend and others.
State Deputy Attorney General Albert Cook asked for a 10-year prison term and a $25,000 fine for what he called an “egregious and sustained pattern of theft” that was based not on need, but on “arrogance, greed and a sense of entitlement.”
Piontek pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree theft and three counts of second-degree theft involving misuse of $136,099 in state money. A no-contest plea means he chose not to fight the charges but did not admit guilt.
In addition, he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree theft for using $16,971 in school money to fix up his apartment. That was part of a plea agreement that dismissed three other theft charges. All the charges are felonies.
The prosecution’s memorandum listed hundreds of expenses Piontek charged on the school’s credit and debit cards that were later identified by the school board’s chairman as nonschool expenses, including:
>> $5,642 spent at Club Paradise Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas.
>> $4,515 for stays at the Venetian and the Marriott Marquis hotels.
>> $4,628 for a stay at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia.
>> $2,400 for a private party at The Happy Rooster restaurant in Philadelphia.
>> $2,412 for tickets for his children to fly to San Francisco and Newark, N.J.
>> $2,230 for first-class tickets to Australia.
Other expenses included many meals, airline tickets and hotel stays as well as tickets to Broadway shows, professional baseball games, limousines, flowers, gift cards and three speeding tickets.
At his sentencing Wednesday, Piontek apologized and assured the judge he had learned “an invaluable lesson” that had truly changed him.
“It is with deepest and most humble remorse that I apologize for my poor lack of judgment while I was head of school at Hawaii Technology Academy,” he told the judge. “It is unfortunate that a path of inexcusable choices hurt so many people and cost me everything. …
“I am dedicated to give back to the community, to help others and teach my own children that every decision they make has an action, good or bad, and has an outcome, so you must choose wisely.”
Piontek acted as both principal and CEO of the charter school, which is publicly funded but governed by its own school board made up of volunteers.
“He was the boss,” Cook wrote in the sentencing memo. “And he realized that he could easily deceive the board of directors and hide his use of the school’s money for his personal use.
“The sheer scope of his spending, on trips around the world, strip clubs in Vegas, upgrades to first class on flights … all point to a narcissistic character that cares only for his own desires,” he wrote. “He is a highly intelligent and educated person who chose to use his charisma and intellect to steal from the school who put their trust in him to lead them.”
A nationally recognized expert on online education, Piontek was arrested Oct. 21, 2013, in Los Angeles. He spent about 30 days in jail before being released on his own recognizance in Honolulu.
He has been working as a consultant in the Los Angeles area and intends to return there, according to his attorney, Haley Cheng. Under the sentence, he will be required to pay back the money he took, in installments of $200 a month.
“I am fully committed to righting these wrongs by continuing my work in education, and I will work to pay back the restitution I owe,” Piontek told the judge.
His attorney said Thursday that “we are satisfied and pleased that the court gave him probation based on the circumstances and everything that led up to the sentencing.”
Piontek was fired from HTA in December 2011 after members of the school’s board got wind of what was going on.
In a Jan. 5, 2016, letter submitted to the court, Hawaii Technology Academy’s current executive director, Leigh Fitzgerald, said the school still feels the repercussions.
“Although Mr. Piontek has not worked at HTA for over four years, the financial effects of his criminal acts are still shouldered by the current students attending the school and the current faculty and administration employed by the school,” Fitzgerald wrote.
“Any restitution monies that might be awarded through this case would be immediately dedicated to activities, training and materials that support student academic and emotional growth at Hawaii Technology Academy.”
In 2012, after reports of dubious financial dealings at a few charter schools, the state passed reform legislation to hold them more accountable for their use of public funds and academic performance.
The sentence in the Piontek case might not serve as much of a deterrent, according to the prosecutor.
“We’re disappointed because we felt like it’s sending the wrong message,” Cook said. “He was granted probation and ordered to pay restitution, which is basically saying, ‘I got caught, I’m paying back what I took and face no jail time.‘ It feels like it undermined the seriousness of the crime.”
