Clippers commentator Michael Smith to be arraigned on grand theft charges [updated]

Clippers commentator Michael Smith is accused of stealing $735,000 from a retired schoolteacher and is scheduled to be arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on grand theft charges later today.

Prosecutors say Smith and an associate persuaded a former teacher with an inoperable brain tumor to use his home as collateral for a loan on a development project that never went through. The 65-year-old man is expected to lose his home.

The arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m.

[UPDATED, 9:41 a.m.: Smith's lawyer, Dyke Huish, has denied the charges. "Mike is absolutely not guilty of any criminal activity, period, and we fully expect to show this in court," Huish told The Times.]

Huish acknowledged Smith owed money and that he intends on paying it back.

Smith, 44, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Photo: Michael Smith. Credit: Jeff Lewis / Associated Press