A Circuit Court judge sentenced former Mililani High School athletic director and booster club president Glenn S. Nitta to four years of probation and ordered him to pay back full restitution of $406,000 he stole from the school. Nitta received no prison time.
Judge Catherine Remigio also ordered the 76-year-old to pay fines totaling $155,000. Since he is retired, she set the terms at $100 a month during probation.
“First and foremost, the facts of the case are particularly egregious,” she said.
Remigio said that children look up to their coaches and parents entrusted their children to Nitta, yet he made repeated missteps every time he stole money, which was a substantial amount.
The judge said jail was not “implicated” because of his extreme guilt, but denied his request for deferral of his no-contest pleas, which would have wiped the crimes off his record after a period of time.
Nitta, who was the president of the Mililani High School Athletic Booster Club, pleaded guilty to multiple theft charges for taking money out of the club’s account, using it “as his own personal piggy bank” to pay off his and his son’s credit card bills and withdrawing money from ATMs on his many trips to Las Vegas, Deputy Prosecutor Brandon “Kai” Golden told the court.
He pleaded no contest on June 20 to three counts of first-degree theft, Class B felonies, and three counts of second-degree theft, Class C felonies, as well as two counts of failure to report income, Class B felonies.
The Class B charges each have a maximum 10-year sentence and the Class C charges, five years.
The state asked for a total of 10 years. The sentences were to run concurrently.
However, the defense counsel argued that Nitta paid the full restitution amount, and in comparison to other cases, the amount is small.
Nitta’s lawyer stressed that he made a mistake and took responsibility from Day 1.
Nitta apologized in court.
Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm said in a written statement: “We asked that Mr. Nitta be sentenced to ten years in prison, so obviously we disagree with the sentence.
“Mr. Nitta stole from the very children he was supposed to be nurturing in the classroom and on ball fields. This was a serious crime with hundreds if not thousands of victims.”
During the sentencing hearing Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong told the court, “Mr. Nitta abused his authority, stole, and used funds inappropriately.
“He blatantly and selfishly used these funds for personal reasons. These are unconscionable acts and he must be held accountable for his lack of professional integrity,” Armstrong added.
