RELATED: Plea reached in case of former Germantown soccer coach who fled during trial
Smith was sentenced to serve eight years in prison Thursday after he entered guilty pleas to 20 charges. However, the sentence will run concurrent to his previous 12-year sentence, meaning Smith will not serve additional time in prison.
RELATED: Former Germantown soccer coach, Justin Smith, indicted on 41 new counts, including child porn
Smith reached a plea deal April 30, entering guilty pleas to crimes he committed after fleeing the area during his trial for sex crimes involving a 14-year-old girl he coached on a Germantown soccer team.
RELATED: Fugitive Germantown soccer coach sentenced to 12 years in prison
The charges Smith was sentenced for today include:
- 10 counts disseminating matter harmful to juveniles
- Five counts pandering obscenity involving a minor
- Two counts illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material
- One count pandering obscenity involving a minor
- One count failure to appear
- One count theft
Smith is a Tier II sex offender and will be required to register his home address in the county he lives in for 25 years after he is released from prison.
Defense attorney Adam Arnold said he was “a little surprised“ that the judge did not add extra prison time related to Smith fleeing from his trial.
Arnold also said he felt there were major issues to be decided on appeal from Smith’s first conviction.
UPDATE @ 10:45 a.m.:
The sentencing of Justin K. Smith, the former Germantown soccer coach who fled the area in the middle of his trial for sex crimes against a juvenile, is underway in a Montgomery County courtroom.
The sentencing today is for crimes committed while Smith was on the run. He pleaded guilty to those 20 charges in April.
News Center 7’s Mike Campbell is in the courtroom. We’ll update this story with the latest as it becomes available.
FIRST REPORT
Justin K. Smith, the former Germantown soccer coach who fled the area in the middle of a trial for child sex crimes is scheduled to be sentenced in court today.
Smith was scheduled to go on trial May 13 for over 40 charges including child porn, obstructing official business, failure to appear and more.
Smith plead guilty to 20 charges April 30 for the crimes committed while he was on the run in the middle of his trial.
The charges included:
- 10 counts disseminating matter harmful to juveniles
- Five counts pandering obscenity involving a minor
- Two counts illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material
- One count pandering obscenity involving a minor
- One count failure to appear
- One count theft
Smith fled in the middle of his trial after he took the stand on Halloween last year. He did not return after a lunch break, and his ankle monitor was later found in Franklin.
After a nationwide warrant was issued for Smith’s arrest, he was captured Dec. 14, 2018 in Florida after 45 days on the run.
A woman he met through an online dating site researched him and found out he had been convicted of sex crimes.
On Jan. 4, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for three counts of sexual battery.
Smith, who is currently in custody, will face a judge in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court this morning.
We will update this story with any new details that emerge from today’s sentencing.