HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The former president and treasurer of a youth baseball team in Henrico County have pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $26,000 from the team.
The Henrico Police Division of Police said it received reports of suspicious transactions from Lakeside Youth Baseball’s bank account which were unrelated team activities in November 2021.
During the investigation, police found over $26,000 in fraudulent charges on the team’s debit cards and identified Christopher McCook, the team’s former president, and Meghaan Sleeman, the team’s former treasurer, as suspects.
Evidence gathered during the investigation showed McCook used the baseball team’s debit card more than 70 times between December 2020 and January 2021. McCook reportedly bought $200 worth of crab legs for his birthday, Comcast internet service for his home and made large cash withdraws from ATMs with the team’s money.
McCook and Sleeman both joined the team in August 2020.
According to the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney, Sleeman pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor embezzlement and was ordered to pay $1,600 in restitution — or compensation for something reported lost or stolen.
McCook pleaded guilty to two counts of felony embezzlement. He is now asking the court to withdraw the pleas.
“The judge will have to find that he did not make his pleas knowingly and willingly, and that he has a good legal basis for changing his plea and then going to trial,” said 8News legal analyst Russ Stone about McCook’s chances of having his guilty pleas withdrawn.
Stone said McCook and Sleeman will likely face a significant penalty when sentenced.
“I will say courts are tougher on embezzlement cases than they are on just standard theft,” said Stone.” And the reason for that is because the nature of embezzlement is because it is a violation of trust.”
This is a developing story, stay with 8News for updates.
