Kevin Barnett

A Jackson man arrested last year for stealing more than $10,000 from a regional youth athletic conference pleaded guilty to embezzlement and grand theft Monday at the Amador Superior Court in Jackson.

Kevin Barnett, 38, is the former president of the Mother Lode Youth Athletic Conference, which includes eight football teams with players and cheerleaders ages 8 to 14 from Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Tuolumne counties, and part of San Joaquin County.

In April 2007, the organization's board members suspected something was amiss when they received a cancellation notice for their liability insurance, and began getting several calls from vendors about unpaid invoices, according to a news release from the Amador County District Attorney's Office.

During a preliminary hearing, Doug Grey from the Jackson Police Department shared information regarding his investigation. Grey testified that 11 checks totaling $8,200 had been made out to cash by Barnett, 24 ATM withdrawals had been made for $3,500, and that there were nine credit card transactions for a total of $1,100.

Grey further testified that Barnett admitted during a conversation between the two men in November 2007 that the checks and ATM withdrawals were for his own personal use. Some of the transactions were for payments to an automotive company and Comcast cable service.

"He is guilty. He wants to make amends," said Richard Cotta, Barnett's defense attorney, during Monday's hearing.

"It's not genuine," said deputy district attorney Armando Zambrano, saying that "the defendant had ample time to repay the money" he took from the youth organization.

Barnett had received $27,000 from selling some property and "made no attempts to contact the victim to give (them) a check," Zambrano said.

Grey testified that Barnett said he was going to "pay back the money he owed through the sale of a piece of property," for which he received $27,000 in September 2007, according to the release. However, Barnett told him that he had "spent the money on other debt obligations."

Barnett faces a prison sentence of 16 months to three years and eight months. After pleading guilty, he agreed to waive his right to a trial by a 12-person jury and answered "yes" when Judge David Devore asked him if he understood that he may have to pay restitution money to the victims.

The estimated amount of restitution Barnett will be required to pay is $12,800, according to chief assistant district attorney Melinda Aiello.

She declined to comment on how long Barnett's sentence should be, noting that "a lot of factors go into appropriate sentencing."

Barnett's judgment and sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m., May 29 at the Amador Superior Court.