A former Waiakea High School basketball coach who starred as a player at the University of Hawaii has been charged with theft after he allegedly pocketed money from parents intended to pay for hotel rooms for players on a school trip.
Justin Alika Pekelo Smith, 48, once a southpaw shooting star for the Rainbow Warrior basketball team from 1994 to 1998, was charged Thursday with second-degree theft and a charge related to passing a worthless check, according to a news release from the state Department of the Attorney General.
Smith scored 1,415 points during his collegiate career, good enough for second on the all-time list, and his 344 assists rank seventh.
His bail is set at $25,000, and Smith must abide by specific conditions of release after posting bail, including a prohibition on illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and alcohol. Smith must submit to random testing.
The state intends to call 18 witnesses at trial and custodians of record of six different financial institutions, according to court records.
From Dec. 14, 2022, until April 13, 2023, Smith allegedly took “unauthorized control” over money from Sports Travel Hawaii LLC in excess of $750, according to state court records.
Smith allegedly used Sports Travel Hawaii to book hotel accommodations for a trip by the Waiakea High School boys basketball team, for $3,788.75.
Smith collected $3,627 from the team members’ parents and allegedly “kept the money for himself.” He paid the company only $500 and “intentionally gave a check for the remainder of the balance owed knowing it would not be honored.”
The check was returned for insufficient funds, and Smith allegedly never paid the company the remaining balance.
“The people of Hawaii 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 in a statement. “The Department of the Attorney General will prosecute all those who abuse their positions of trust.”
Second-degree theft is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Negotiating a worthless negotiable instrument is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and up to a $2,000 fine.
Deputy Attorney General Thomas Michener is prosecuting the case.
As a player, Smith was an All-State guard at Kalaheo High School and an All- Western Athletic Conference performer at the University of Hawaii, playing his final year during the 1997-98 season, when he averaged 18.3 points and 4.1 assists a game.
As a high school coach, Smith went 24-4 in one season at Punahou, then guided Kalaheo to a Division II title in 2012 before the Mustangs took the 2013 state championship with a 60-54 overtime win over Maryknoll.
In 2015 the Mustangs beat ‘Iolani 53-45 for the state title. Smith was released by Kalaheo after that season.
Smith cited “philosophical differences with administration at the school.”
In a document sent to Smith three weeks before he resigned, then-Principal Susan Hummel and athletic director Mark Brilhante sent a list of bullet-point agreements with stipulations regarding positive coaching methods for Smith and his staff.
Smith disagreed with it and quit.
Twice, Smith was voted All-State coach of the year by coaches and media. He served as an assistant coach for the Rainbow Warriors from 2005 to 2007.
On Dec. 30, 1997, the Rainbows, as they were then known, beat the University of Kansas Jayhawks 76-65, a win that the Honolulu Star- Advertiser sports staff voted as the most memorable athletic event in the first 25 years of the Stan Sheriff Center.
The arena opened Oct. 21, 1994.
Smith who led Hawaii with 22 points, said at the time that to “beat Kansas and Indiana all in the same year … it feels great. This tells the WAC that we’re here. We may be far away but we’re coming after them. We’re on the map.”
