A former executive with a major Santa Ana-based credit union has admitted embezzling nearly $2.7 million from his employer over more than a decade.

David Lugo, 41, was a systems administrator and later vice president with SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, which has 45 branches and $10 billion in assets. SchoolsFirst said it discovered the embezzlement a few months ago and reported it to the FBI.

Last week, Lugo agreed to plead guilty in federal court to two counts each of wire fraud and mail fraud, court records show. He admitted spending the illicit proceeds on cars, meals and rent; family trips to Hawaii, Europe and Disney World; his daughter’s USC tuition; and jewelry for his wife and daughter.

Lugo, who is still free, will appear in court Oct. 6, but a date for him to formally enter a guilty plea hasn’t been set. His attorney, Jeremy Goldman, declined to comment on the facts of the case until after the plea.

It’s unclear what sentence Lugo will receive, his lawyer said. Under the law, the maximum prison term is 80 years, but guidelines are likely to call for a far shorter sentence.

A plea agreement Lugo signed outlines his scheme. Starting in 2003, he ordered unneeded computer equipment for the bank, including two large Cisco products called “switches” that function as part of corporate computer systems.

When the equipment was delivered by UPS, Lugo took it out of the office and sold it to companies that buy equipment for resale. He then deposited the proceeds in his own Wells Fargo account.

“Defendant knew (SchoolsFirst) FCU was unlikely to detect his theft as the inventory of the IT Department was not well monitored and other employees were not in a position to understand the company’s IT equipment needs,” the Sept. 11 plea agreement says. “When defendant suspected his theft had been discovered, he tried to erase any computer entries relating to the purchases of IT equipment that he later stole and sold for personal profit.”

Over 11 years, Lugo stole $2,698,566.54.

The case was first reported by OC Weekly. Prosecutors did not file charges until this week, after Lugo had agreed to plead guilty.

As part of the plea, Lugo will give up property, including a Volkswagen and Tiffany jewelry he bought in May.

In a statement, SchoolsFirst said it has tried to “enhance controls” to prevent a repeat of the embezzlement. It said none of its 600,000 members lost money and none of their personal information was compromised.

Contact the writer: ehartley@ocregister.com or 949-229-5950