Santa Barbara County – One would presume that any individual working in close association with young people in a community-supported athletic program would be subject to a certain amount of background checks and scrutiny of character. One would also presume that the criminal and personal history of anyone serving as the president of a youth sports organization would have also been given some review.
One would presume that…and, apparently, one may be sorely mistaken. Evidence of such a failure of oversight came on December 20th when Tyrome Lamar Lee, 2014 President of the Orcutt Youth Football League, was arrested on suspicion of having embezzled more than $20,000 cash from the organization coffers. His arrest closely followed his resignation from the OYFL office at the behest of board members investigating the results of an internal audit pursuant to the organization’s financial shortage and the discovery of a number of mysterious payments, false invoices, and questionable cash withdrawals. It was on December 12th that given their strong suspicions of wrongdoing, board members filed a felony complaint with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department against Lee.
According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Lee, 35, has a criminal record that includes “convictions in 1998 for statutory rape, two counts of felony ID theft, and a domestic battery conviction.”
With all of that pointing authorities in Lee’s direction, SBSD detectives sought and obtained a search warrant for him, and on December 20th his car was pulled over for a traffic infraction “while driving his BMW and was cited for driving on a suspended license,” Hoover reported. He was then invited to stop by the local sheriff’s sub-station for a conversation about the embezzlement accusations made by his fellow OYFL board members. The interview apparently didn’t go very well for Lee, as he was arrested shortly thereafter and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of felony embezzlement.
While he was being booked, Lee’s residence was searched, where additional evidence “to support the embezzlement charge” was discovered along with a pair of firearms, possession of which is an additional problem for Lee as a convicted felon.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
Read more:
EdHat: Orcutt youth football president arrested
Santa Maria Times: Youth football league president arrested for embezzlement
