Oakdale Woman Accused Of Stealing $18,000 From Youth Soccer League

OAKDALE (CBS13) — An Oakdale woman is suspected of using youth soccer league funds to pay for personal expenses.

Oakdale police say 45-year old Joanna "Jo" Harris allegedly stole more than $18,000 dollars from the Oakdale Youth Soccer League, while she served as president and board member of the league.

She was arrested Wednesday after a two-and-a-half month investigation.

"She opened a second account to pay for bills for the league and her own personal bills."

Oakdale police were tipped off by someone from the Oakdale Youth Soccer League who blew the whistle in March, reporting Joanna Harris for embezzlement.

According to Oakdale detectives, Harris is suspected of pocketing more than $18,000 from the league between March of 2014 and March of 2016.

Oakdale Police Chief Lester Jenkins said some of the evidence came from "the soccer organization which provided documentation of funds withdrawn, and there is some video showing withdrawals from an ATM machine."

The alleged thefts occurred while Harris was a board member for the youth soccer league.

In fact, police say Harris was serving as president of the league when she opened up a private account that only she and her husband had access to.

"It's really not unusual to have embezzlement with youth sports leagues, it happens more frequently than people think," said Chief Jenkins.

Police say Harris used that private account to pay for league expenses and personal bills, including a $1,400 dollar utility bill for her home, and a car payment.

But detectives say Harris has a different story.

She told them she was reimbursing herself for payments she made on behalf of the soccer league.

Harris claimed she had a hard time getting payments from league members for tournaments so she paid for them and used the league's funding to pay herself back.

CBS 13 tried to reach out to Harris on Thursday, but received no response.

The Oakdale Youth Soccer League Board of Directors emailed this statement Thursday afternoon saying "we are working and responding to all inquiries for documentation by the police department…our program will move forward with a great season supporting youth in our community."

Harris resigned from her position in March for unrelated reasons, according to a source within the soccer league.

Harris was released from the Stanislaus County Jail in Modesto Wednesday.

She now faces felony charges of embezzlement and grand theft.