A former Kent Little League treasurer pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing more than $200,000 from the organization.
Kevin L. Baker, 50, of Maple Valley, faces a sentence range of 22 to 29 months and will be required to pay back $208,743 in restitution, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. on June 26 before Judge LeRoy McCullough at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Baker pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree theft (value of more than $5,000) and two counts of second-degree theft (value of more than $750) in connection with taking money from the youth baseball and softball group’s bank accounts during a 16-month period in 2012-13. He used some of the funds in an attempt to keep his newly acquired Benchwarmer Sports Bar and Grill in Kent afloat, according to charging papers. The bar along Russell Road has since closed.
League president Greg Whitcomb discovered the financial shortfall after he tried to use a Kent Little League ATM card for a $20 purchase at Office Depot and the card was declined. He learned in December 2013 that funds appeared to be missing from league bank accounts. He reported the alleged theft to the Kent Police that same month.
Baker pleaded guilty to taking $9,200 and $9,571 from the league’s bank account through cashier checks in May 2013; $20,129 and $20,000 in September 2012; $10,000 and $5,300 in July and August 2012; and $2,500 and $2,000 in June 2012. He also faced five other counts of theft that were dismissed in return for a guilty plea but money that he still must pay back.
Baker was fingerprinted, booked and released on the same day after an initial guilty plea in January. He remains out of custody.
Detectives received a search warrant for bank records for all accounts where Baker was an authorized signatory, including two with the Kent Little League, his business account and his personal account.
The bank records showed Baker used league funds for personal expenses, including restaurant and bar tabs. Records also showed checks written to Baker and his business from the league accounts, including two cashier checks for as much as $20,000 each to his business account. Cash withdrawals from the league account by Baker coincided with cash deposits into his business account.
Baker told detectives he was a victim of a Nigerian Internet email-solicitation scam in which he sent tens of thousands of dollars to the United Kingdom and Nigeria on the premise that the lender would provide him with a much-needed business loan he couldn’t otherwise qualify for in the United States.
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