A bench warrant was issued Thursday for the former president of the Linden Youth Soccer Association after she did not appear for a court hearing.
Emilie Burton, who is accused of embezzling more than $30,000 from the nonprofit, missed the hearing after being admitted to the hospital this week, according to her attorney Tim Tuitavuki.
Burton was arraigned in November 2024 on charges of grand theft from the soccer association totaling $33,089.62, embezzlement and three counts of money laundering, all allegedly committed last year.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Allan F. Jose ordered Burton to be present Dec. 8 for a further arraignment hearing. He also said she would need to provide proof of her hospital admission and medical records.
Bail was set at $120,000 for Burton.
Last month, court spokesperson Erica Ochoa said the Nov. 13 hearing was set for the defendant to enter a plea, but the defendant did not do so.
The alleged embezzlement was first reported by Darian Codog, who now serves as board president of the soccer association.
According to the search warrant return, Codog said during her time on the board, members noticed “several discrepancies” between club card charges and invoices provided by Burton.
The board treasurer began a full review of the organization’s financial records after noticing issues with team jerseys.
Burton was in charge of ordering jerseys for the entire league. Law enforcement said she submitted a fake invoice for 401 jerseys totaling $14,480.54. According to the search warrant return, the invoice was labeled from Direct Apparel Source, Inc., at 5300 Bangs Ave. in Modesto.
However, the address did not exist, according to deputies.
According to the board, when Burton was confronted at a meeting, she denied personally making the jerseys and said the usual vendor had outsourced production, which she said explained the poor quality.
“To this day, Emilie has not admitted to producing the jerseys, but substantial evidence indicates otherwise,” the board said.
Other irregularities included missing sponsor funds and league funds being used at Walmart, Lake Camanche, Amazon, and Jiffy.com, none of which connected to legitimate league expenses.
The purchases were all linked to the debit card issued to Burton.
In September 2024, the board met to review evidence and allowed Burton to respond. She denied all the allegations, according to the board. Burton was removed from the board following a vote, and the findings were reported to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.
In a statement last month, the board urged the judge and prosecutor to take the allegations seriously and act more quickly to resolve the case.
The board did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday’s hearing.
Record reporter Victoria Franco covers public safety in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at vfranco@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Bench warrant issued for former Linden Youth Soccer Association president accused of embezzlement
Reporting by Victoria Franco, The Stockton Record / The Record
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