Youth League Official Held on Embezzlement Charge

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The treasurer of a youth football league was arrested Monday on suspicion of embezzling more than $86,000 from a league account over the last few years.

Authorities said George Gutierrez, 50, wrote at least 79 checks from the Santa Margarita-Trabuco Canyon Pop Warner football league to himself and to “cash,” which allowed him immediate access to the money.

Gutierrez, a former league president and coach, used the money to pay for food, rent and personal bills, said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

Amormino said other league members began to suspect Gutierrez was embezzling money about three months ago.

“Had we not identified this problem when we did, we would not have the funds to operate the program this year,” said veteran league coach Scott McKnight, a detective with the Newport Beach Police Department.

“He left us deeply in debt,” McKnight said. But “even if we didn’t raise a penny, there will still be football this year.”

Gutierrez was relieved of his duties in late March after investigators searched a former home.

Authorities said Gutierrez wrote fake invoices for equipment purchases to justify the money missing from the league’s Bank of America account.

Gutierrez turned himself in Monday and was booked into Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.