Woman gets probation for theft from wrestling booster club; Used club debit card for personal reasons

Published 6:20 am Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Kristin Lynn Stevens, 35, of LeRoy was sentenced to 10 years of probation for felony theft-take/use/transfer movable property without consent on Friday in Mower County District Court.

A charge of felony theft by swindle was dismissed as part of a plea agreement reached on Dec. 17.

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Judge Kevin Siefken issued the sentence.

Court documents state Stevens was suspected of stealing funds from the “Dawg Pound Wrestling” booster club, which supports the consolidated Grand Meadow, Leroy-Ostrander, and Southland wrestling team, while she was treasurer. One of the club’s board members became suspicious when Stevens provided the board with a financial spreadsheet that was inconsistent with bank statements from the booster club’s bank account with First State Bank in LeRoy. Stevens was in possession of the club’s debit card and was the only one with access to the club’s checks.

One item she noticed was a $1,754.65 purchase made with the booster club debit card on April 30, 2017, at the Best Buy in Rochester. Another member showed an investigator a spreadsheet of all transactions that occurred from Sept. 1, 2016, to April 24, 2018, which included unauthorized purchases made by Stevens exceeding over $10,000, not including cash received at fundraisers that had not been deposited.

When asked about the unauthorized purchases, Stevens told investigators she “recently realized” the booster club’s debit card was the default card on her Amazon.com account and that she intended to contact the board and pay back the money she “accidentally spent.” She also claimed she “accidentally” gave her husband the booster club’s debit card for the purchase at Best Buy and that she did not notice the charge on the booster club’s statement until “two weeks ago.” When asked about her knowledge of any other unauthorized charges, she said she was sick and off of work “last summer,” had written some checks “cash” and had repaid the booster club $500.

A deputy made inquiries about the following transactions:

• $103.77 from Kwik Trip on Feb. 13, 2017, which Stevens said was to purchase pizzas for the wrestling team;

• $99 from Amazon.com, which Stevens alleged was made “accidentally,” saying the booster club did not have an Amazon.com account and that she had purchased items for the booster club on her personal account;

• $309.58, $314.78, and $152.79 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Rochester on April 3, 2017, which Stevens said were to pay for “referees’ hotel rooms,” although she said she and her family stayed there at the same time and one of the charges could be for her hotel stay;

• $200 cash withdrawals made on May 13 and May 17, 2017, which Stevens said were to pay for her personal bills;

• $500 check cashed on June 27, 2017, which Stevens admitted was for personal bills;

• $850 withdrawal on Aug. 8, 2017, $300 of which Stevens alleged was for a fundraiser and $550 was for her own use. She also said the fundraiser made $700, which she kept in addition to the initial $300; and

• $500 check cashed on Nov. 13, 2017, which Stevens admitted to stealing.

Stevens estimated she stole, or “accidentally” spent, about $6,000 of the booster club’s funds.

In addition to probation, Stevens must follow 12 conditions, including paying $7,277.45 in restitution and not holding any position that involves managing the money of others.