Former treasurer stole $63,000 from York County youth soccer group, police say

A former treasurer for York Unified Soccer Association has been charged with embezzling more than $63,000 from the organization, according to Springettsbury Township Police. 

Timothy Herman, 51, of the 2100 block of Poplar Road in Dover Township, has been charged with theft, receiving stolen property and unauthorized access of a device. He remains free on his own recognizance. 

Herman is expected back in court on Oct. 10.

"My client has been cooperative and forthcoming for a number of months leading up to the initiation of these charges," Chris Ferro, Herman's defense attorney, said. "We are in the process of working with the district attorney's office and the police to find a fair resolution to this unfortunate situation." 

A call to Herman was not returned. 

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A criminal complaint was filed against Herman on July 19, according to court documents. Officials with the York Unified Soccer Association first met with police in December 2017, according to the affidavit of probable cause. 

According to the charging documents, Herman served as the sole treasurer for YUSA starting in 2005, and was issued a check book and debit card from the organization to conduct business with. 

YUSA President Steven Clever and the organization's executive board became suspicious of Herman in July 2017 when he failed to provide monthly financial reports and did not respond to multiple requests from Clever, according to documents. 

After reviewing historical transactions for the organization's bank accounts, Clever and YUSA board member Cindy Mullen found that the balance for its money-market account fell from just over $68,585 in August of 2011 to just over $89 in October of 2017, according to documents. An investigation revealed that Herman completed 252 unauthorized debit card transactions for personal reasons such as auto repair, food and vacation expenses, among others, between 2011 and 2017. 

As a result of the debit transactions, YUSA sustained a loss of about $13,717. There were also 62 unauthorized checks drawn off the organization's checking account either issued to Herman or made payable to "cash," which resulted in a loss of about $49,686, according to court documents. 

Overall, about just over $63,404 was stolen from YUSA, police say.  

According to the affidavit, Detective Christopher Ford of the Springettsbury Township Police Department interviewed Herman in June 2018. Herman admitted to writing unauthorized checks to himself and making unauthorized debit withdrawals from YUSA accounts starting several years ago, according to documents. 

Herman told Ford that he got behind on his personal credit cards, and that the thefts became more frequent over the years as he "could not get his head above water" financially, documents state.  

YUSA administrator Christyna Berry called the police investigation "very thorough" but declined to comment further. 

The York Unified Soccer Association is a youth soccer league that serves players in south central Pennsylvania.