Dennis Smith Jr.’s high school basketball coach arrested on felony tax charge

Heath Vandevender, the basketball coach at Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville, was arrested for a felony tax charge in Raleigh on Monday.

Vandevender, 48, was charged with one count of embezzlement of state property, according to a release by the N.C. Department of Revenue.

Vandevender, identified as the vice president of Truth Outreach Center, Inc. in Fayetteville, was charged for aiding and abetting “the corporation to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use $388,422.68 in North Carolina Withholding Tax during the period January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2015,” according to the Department of Revenue.

The Truth Outreach Center is part of the Trinity Community Services, which also includes K-12 classes at Trinity Christian.

N.C. State freshman guard Dennis Smith Jr. played for Vandevender at Trinity Christian from 2012 through 2015.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Dennis Smith Jr.’s high school basketball coach arrested on felony tax charge."