Harry Jose
Harry Jose, 41, of Canyon Country, was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison – time which will be served in a county jail, District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Wednesday.
Jose was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution in his initial plea deal, in addition to serving a year in jail, after he pleaded no contest to embezzling more than a quarter-million dollars from the Canyon Country Athletic Association, said Detective Steve McCauley, who conducted the initial investigation.
However, when Jose showed up in court Jan. 4 for a restitution hearing, it was determined that he committed an additional $100,000 worth of fraud, according to an investigation by Detective Simeon Plyler, also of the Commercial Crimes Bureau.
“While he was out, at some point in time, he had embezzled nearly $100,000 from another business,” McCauley said. “And when the time came to pay (restitution), he didn’t have that money.”
Jose was ordered to serve an additional two year sentence in that case, but it will be served concurrently with his four-year sentence, meaning he will still be out in less than four years, McCauley said.
Gibbons said Jose received credit for about 280 days already served, which put his remaining sentence at 1,095 days, according to Sheriff’s Department records.
Earlier Story
A Santa Clarita man who stole from a local youth sports organization now stands accused of additional crimes that may be related to his original theft.
Harry Jose, 41, of Canyon Country, was sentenced to a year in jail and $100,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than a quarter-million dollars from a local Pee Wee football association.
Jose is now being held at Men’s Central Jail on $1.1 million bail after he was accused of stealing an additional $90,000 to pay his restitution, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Van Nuys courthouse.
Jose was due in court Wednesday to make his first payment of half the restitution amount.
Jose had not paid, nor was he ready to pay any of the agreed upon restitution. Additionally, it was brought to the court’s attention that another grand theft case had been filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office at the Van Nuys Court.
The new charges stemmed from a complaint made to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department after Jose’s theft and plea bargain was uncovered by an executive at a Sun Valley business where Jose had been fired for theft in February.
The business had discovered nearly $90,000 had been stolen by Jose and reported their loss in September. It was their opinion that Jose had stolen the money from them to use the funds to pay restitution to CCAA.
In September 2009, the Canyon Country Athletic Association officials filed a report alleging an embezzlement of funds by Jose, the group’s former CCAA Treasurer, Harry Jose. The CCAA is a youth football league that promotes football and cheerleading in the Santa Clarita Valley.
After an investigation it was determined Jose had embezzled $256,880 from the CCAA over a period of four years and had forged numerous CCAA checks in the process, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release.
The monies stolen by Jose had come to the CCAA via club dues paid by hundreds of parents of youth football players and cheerleaders from all over the Santa Clarita Valley.
These dues allowed the club to purchase equipment for the players, pay the fees to reserve fields and other miscellaneous club costs. During this time, the club accrued a large amount of debt while their bills went unpaid.
The debt was later settled by parents who took over the organization after Jose stepped down.
Jose is due back in court Jan. 4 in San Fernando, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release.
Jose Gets 4+ Years for Embezzling from Youth Sports Group
