The treasurer for three Federal Way youth football and baseball leagues has been charged with 10 counts of theft, accused of stealing nearly $34,000 from the leagues.
Prosecutors allege Colleen A. Wiley, 33, wrote unauthorized checks and an unauthorized wire transfer totaling $33,967.20.
According to charging papers, the Federal Way woman stole the money from the three leagues between August 2007 and January 2009.
Wiley is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Federal Way police say Wiley admitted she took $10,000 to get her house out of foreclosure, but denied taking more than that amount.
The News Tribune could not reach Wiley because a phone number was disconnected. A King County spokesman said Wiley’s defense is being handled by the public defender’s office, which said she’s not been assigned an attorney.
The thefts were discovered in February when Puget Sound Junior Football League Commissioner Klaus Nalley reported to police that Wiley signed 10 checks totaling $9,241.72 not authorized by the league’s board.
Nalley then notified two other leagues where Wiley was treasurer. Both of those leagues also discovered thefts.
In March, Robert Clinton, vice president of the Federal Way American Little League, reported four unauthorized checks written by Wiley and one missing concession deposit. The Little League’s total loss was $6,888.03, court documents state.
In April, Mike Barnhart, president of the Federal Way Junior Football Hawks, reported 10 unauthorized checks and a wire transfer of $4,000 to a bank’s residential operation, even though the junior football organization doesn’t own property. He said all the checks were signed by Wiley without authorization.
About 285 youths are involved with the Junior Hawks, consisting of five football teams and five cheerleading teams of 7- to 14-yearolds from the Federal Way area. The Junior Hawks reported losing $17,837.45, the largest amount of the three leagues.
Police interviewed Wiley in April. She initially denied any knowledge of missing money or unauthorized checks. But later in the interview, she admitted writing three checks totaling $10,000 – one for each league – to get her home out of foreclosure, charging papers state.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Wiley on Thursday with four counts of first-degree theft and six counts of second-degree theft. She has no criminal history and is not in custody.
Local youth sports clubs have previously been vulnerable to internal theft. In June 2009, the treasurer of the Fife-Milton-Edgewood Junior Soccer Club pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree theft after accusations she stole more than $72,000 from the club. Deborah Lea Angilley was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
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