Lansing man gets jail for stealing from 2 youth leagues

A former Michigan State University accountant has been sentenced to a year in jail for embezzling nearly $100,000 from two youth sports leagues.

John Ayers of Lansing was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months in jail and at least three years of probation. Ingham County Circuit Court Judge James Jamo told Ayers the remainder of his jail time will be suspended if he gets a full-time job within the first 30 days of his sentence.

Ayers also was ordered to pay $97,000 in restitution to the Tri-County Youth Sports League and the Red Cedar Basketball League. He brought a $47,000 check with him to court and said he plans to pay back the rest of the money he stole by working as a truck driver.

Ayers helped set up the 10-team Tri-County Youth Sports League and bought the league’s insurance, according to court records. He received about $112,000 from teams between 2009 and 2013 and deposited it into his bank account, but only paid about $59,000 to the insurance company, leaving $53,000 unaccounted for, according to court records. He also falsified documents to show that the full amount went toward insurance.

Patrick Crowley, a local attorney, spoke as a representative of the Tri-County Youth Sports League, which was reorganized after Ayers was charged and is now called the Capital Area Youth Football League. The league is now run at a community level to ensure something like this doesn't happen again, Crowley said.

"These young men, and sometimes young women, learn teamwork, courage, friendship and fair play," he told Jamo. "These are unfortunately apparently all things that Mr. Ayers never learned."

Ayers pleaded guilty in September to embezzlement between $50,000 and $100,000 and uttering and publishing, which usually refers to falsifying checks. As part of that agreement, a charge of false pretenses between $50,000 and $100,000 was dropped and prosecutors agreed to recommend not more than a year in jail.

The Red Cedar Basketball League estimated Ayers embezzled about $50,000 from it, although the group was not the official victim in Ayers' prosecution, the prosecutor's office said Wednesday. That amount was included in the total restitution and as part of the plea agreement prosecutors agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

Ayers was sentenced to 12 months in jail with the first 47 days eligible for work release while he completes training and testing to become a truck driver. If Ayers gets a full-time job within the first 30 days of the sentence, which starts today, the remainder of the time will be suspended.

He was also sentenced to three years probation, which can be extended if he doesn't pay the remainder of the restitution in that time.

Ayers told Jamo he was sorry for what he did and for those he hurt.

Raymond Buffmyer, Ayers' attorney, told the judge he's known his client for years and was shocked when Ayers brought the case to him. He added that Ayers won't do something like this again and wants to make things right.

Crowley asked that in addition to whatever sentence Jamo found fair, he order that Ayers not be allowed to associate with youth sports leagues in the future. Ayers won't be allowed to hold an accounting role with a youth sports league, the judge ordered.

Ayers was suspended by MSU shortly after criminal charges were filed so the university could conduct an internal investigation. He left the university at some point, and MSU officials said he was no longer an employee as a May 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.