Former Volunteer For Fullerton Youth Soccer Club Pleads Guilty To Stealing Money

FULLERTON (CBSLA.com) — A former volunteer for a youth soccer club in Fullerton pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling money from the organization and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail.

Laura Alicia Zellerbach, 41, of Long Beach, was also placed on five years of formal probation and ordered to pay $227,000 in restitution.

Zellerbach, who was arrested Wednesday, has already paid back $106,000 of the embezzled money, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

The Fullerton Rangers Youth Soccer Club called police last May claiming the defendant had taken at least $30,000, Fullerton police Sgt. Kathryn Hamel said. But an investigation revealed the amount stolen was actually $174,000.

Prosecutors said Zellerbach used some of the money to pay for a European vacation for her children.

She served as treasurer for the club from 2012 through 2014.