Posted on: Thursday, January 6, 2005

Football player pleads no contest to '02 theft

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawai'i football player West Keliikipi pleaded no contest yesterday in Circuit Court to a single count of second-degree theft stemming from a scheme that defrauded Kaiser Medical Center out of approximately $150,000 three years ago.

Keliikipi's lawyer, Michael Green, asked Circuit Judge Richard Pollack to defer accepting the no-contest plea, which would allow Keliikipi to avoid having a criminal record if he stays out of trouble and complies with conditions similar to probation for the next five years. Green said after the hearing that a deferral could increase Keliikipi's prospects of playing professional football.

Pollack scheduled a hearing on the deferral request for 8:30 a.m. March 17. If Pollack were to reject the deferral request and find Keliikipi, 24, guilty, he would face a prison term of up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000.

City Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee outlined the money scam to Pollack and said Keliikipi was one of eight people to benefit from it.

Lee said a credit card machine at the Kaiser Moanalua Hospital was used to deduct money from the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan account at American Savings Bank between April 8 and May 22, 2002.

On April 8, 2002, $10,125.80 was credited to Keliikipi's personal checking account and two days later, he withdrew $9,000 in cash, Lee said. On April 16, 2002, Keliikipi withdrew the remainder of the money, Lee said.

Green told the judge that Keliikipi "never intended to steal money from anyone."

"He was approached by a person who said they wanted to help him," Green said.