Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario scheduled sentencing for Oct. 29. City Deputy Prosecutor Peter Marrack said he will seek a maximum five-year prison term; Deputy Public Defender Ken Shimozono said he will seek probation for his client.

Shimozono said Dade, who is free on bond, had a clean record and is taking responsibility in pleading no contest without the benefit of a plea agreement.

Dade, a student at the Central O'ahu school at the time, was driving his grandmother's 1999 Saturn from Mililani to Mokule'ia on April 12, 2001. Police describe the winding road as dangerous, the scene of fatal crashes that year. Police said they stepped up patrols in that area to deter speeders and drunken driving, but added that it's difficult to post officers there because the two-lane road is too narrow to pull anyone over.

Marrack said yesterday that although Dade's alcohol level was not above the legal limit for adults, Dade was under 21, the legal drinking age.

Dade passed several cars, crossed the center line, struck the guardrail and smashed into the oncoming car, Marrack said. One of the people in the other car suffered a potentially fatal bleeding kidney, Marrack said.

The three killed in the crash were Andrew Delos Reyes and Jeremy Tolentino, both 18, and Anthony Alexander, 17.