Accused Downtown Little League Thief Held on Assault Charges
Edwin Valero as an assistant coach in 2013. The Downtown Little League board says Valero admitted to taking money from the league's reserve account.
The recent announcement by the Downtown Little League board that a former treasurer admitted to pocketing $60,00 to $80,000 from the league’s reserves has set parents reeling. But his problems with the law, the Trib has learned, go well beyond the league.
In a note sent to parents last month, the board wrote that Edwin Valero, 47, “was a member of the DLL board for the 2014 season and served in a role that granted him access to DLL’s bank accounts.”
According to people familiar with the situation, Valero is believed to have used a league debit card to make withdrawals from ATMs.
“When I read this I thought, could this possibly be the same nice guy?” said Monica Forrestall, whose son played on a team in 2013 for which Valero was the assistant coach. “He showed up for every practice and every game and he seemed like a congenial and very nice person.”
“I was very shocked,” said Jim Conley, who coached in the Downtown Little League for many years and knew Valero, whose son was on his team. “But then when I saw the amount I was just blown away.”
“It’s a small and tight community,” Conley said. “He had to be very desperate to put himself in a situation where he would be outcast from the neighborhood.”
These comments were made before the Trib discovered what had not been publicly known—that Valero is currently being held on Rikers Island awaiting trial on numerous charges of domestic violence.
Valero pled guilty in January 2014 to charges that he had attacked his ex-girlfriend in her Bronx apartment, kicking and punching her, cutting her clothes off with a kitchen knife and slamming her head against the side of a bed frame. He was sentenced to one year of probation, and an order of protection was issued.
Valero was arrested again in October and December 2014, and charged with attacking the same woman, with whom he had had a five-year relationship and whose name is being withheld by the DA’s office. A grand jury indicted him in January on 22 counts based on charges that include holding a pillow over the woman’s nose and mouth for several minutes, repeatedly pushing her head and body into the wall and strangling her into unconsciousness. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $50,000 bond or $30,000 cash, according to the DA’s office.
Valero, a father of two who is separated from his wife, had not had a full-time job since 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
People who know him said that he had been staying with friends and most recently did not have a permanent address.
The missing funds represent a large part of the money the league takes in— about 30 to 40 percent of the organization’s yearly revenue (based on its most recent filings with the IRS). But the board emphasized to parents that the league is solvent and the 2015 season will not be affected.
It is unclear whether certain “extras,” such as clinics, tournament trips paid for by the league, uniform purchases, or any other league activities will be affected. The league’s president, Andrew Zelter, did not respond to this and other emailed questions regarding the theft and its impact on the league. Valero’s lawyer in the domestic violence cases, Insha Rahman, also did not respond to requests for comment.
In its note to parents, the board said it had “instituted new policies and procedures and has established internal finance and audit committees. The league is also working with its accountant and bank on fraud protection measures,” and is hoping to recover some of the money from insurance.
“There’s a lot of responsibility vested in the treasurer,” said David Glovin, who saw the league and its budget grow rapidly during his time in that role several years ago. “There needs to be sound oversight.”
Little League Thefts Abound Across the Country
Embezzlements from Little Leagues are far from uncommon. Over the past few years, dozens of league officers have been charged with pilfering between a few thousand and a few hundred thousand dollars from their league accounts. Here is a nationwide sampling of some of those cases. Reporting by Amanda Woods
Feb. 2015: The president of the Pleasanton American Little League in Alameda County, CA., is arrested on suspicion of embezzling $20,708. He reportedly used a portion of the funds for a family trip. http://wn.ktvu.com/story/28039134/former-little-league-president-arreste...
Jan. 2015: The 63-year-old treasurer of the Clinton Valley Little League in Michigan is accused of pilfering more than $100,000 between 2008 and 2013. League organizers say they discovered the theft when she and her husband, the league president, quit. http://www.macombdaily.com/general-news/20150107/accused-little-league-t...
Jan. 2015: A former treasurer of the Kent Little League in Washington state is charged with 14 counts of first- and second-degree theft for allegedly taking $226,515 over a 16-month period from the organization. The 50-year-old man reportedly used some of the embezzled funds in an attempt to keep his newly acquired Benchwarmer Sports Bar and Grill afloat. http://www.kentreporter.com/news/288622191.html#
Nov. 2014: A father and son are found guilty of stealing what authorities say was at least $50,000 from the West Medford Hillside Little League in Massachusetts. Prosecutors say the father was previously board president and his son was treasurer.
http://www.wcvb.com/news/stoneham-father-son-convicted-in-little-league-...
Aug. 2014: An elementary school secretary is arrested and charged with embezzling more than $7,000 from the Delphi Youth Baseball League in Indiana, while serving as the league’s treasurer. http://www.newsbug.info/monticello_herald_journal/delphi-treasurer-caugh...
May 2014: A Flemington, N.J., man is accused of embezzling more than $100,000 while serving as treasurer of the Flemington Raritan Baseball organization. http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/05/man_charge...
May 2014: A 39-year-old man is charged with first-degree larceny for allegedly embezzling more than $40,000 from the Westport Little League in Connecticut, where he had served on the board of directors.
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-man-charged-with-embezzli...
May 2014: A Bethlehem, Pa., man is sentenced to Northampton County Prison for stealing more than $37,000 from the North Central Little League, where his wife served as the league's financial manager. Police say he stole the money in order to buy himself drugs with the intention of paying the league back, but the debt became too large. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2014/05/bethlehem_li...
March 2013: A woman allegedly embezzles $21,601.22 in funds from checks donated to the Grayling Little League in Michigan. The woman tells police that she used the money to pay bills and buy groceries. http://churchembezzlement.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html
July 2013: The 10-year president of Forest City (N.C.) Little League is arrested on charges of embezzlement and obtaining property by false pretense. http://www.thedigitalcourier.com/news/forestcity/x1202636599/Little-Leag...
April 2013: The former president of the Ashland Little League in Virginia, who allegedly embezzled $23,763.13 from the organization, is charged with two counts each of forgery and embezzlement. http://www.wistv.com/story/21772718/former-ashland-little-league-preside...
Jan. 2013: The president of North Carolina’s Canton Little League softball team and a former longtime sheriff’s deputy is arrested for allegedly stealing about $4,900 from the team’s account. http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/little-league-president-charged-...
May 2012: The former treasurer of the New City, N.Y. Little League pleads guilty to second-degree grand larceny in connection with stealing upwards of $400,000 from the league. http://patch.com/new-york/newcity/former-new-city-little-league-treasure...
Feb. 2012: A Belgrade, Mont., woman is arrested for allegedly embezzling more than $92,000 from Belgrade youth athletic league. The woman, a treasurer for the league, is accused of using the money to write checks to her husband’s plumbing company.
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/crime/belgrade-woman-charged-w...
Aug. 2010: A 34-year-old woman is sentenced to prison for twice embezzling funds from the Gridley Little League in California. She had previously been convicted of embezzling more than $32,800 in 2009 while serving as treasurer of the Little League.
http://www.buttecounty.net/da/Press%20Releases/Abella%20-Little%20League...
Jan. 2010: A former treasurer and two-time Volunteer of the Year at the Torrance Little League in California is charged with stealing more than $110,000 from the organization. She pleads not guilty and is released from custody after posting $67,615 bail, according to court documents. http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20100124/woman-charged-in-110000...