No jail time for treasurer who drained B.C. little league's bank account

The former treasurer who drained the bank account of a B.C. little league will not be sent to prison.

On Wednesday, provincial court Judge Peter LaPrairie sentenced Terri Michael to serve two years less a day on a conditional sentence, which is a jail sentence that the offender is permitted to serve in the community under certain conditions.

Michael was charged last year with one count of theft over $5,000 and one count of fraud over $5,000. The sentence handed down Wednesday was for the theft charge. The fraud charge was stayed.

LaPrairie also ordered Michael to pay more than $160,000 in restitution, plus a $200 victim surcharge.

The penalties stem from Michael's time working as treasurer for Coquitlam Little League, a six-year stretch that ended in August 2020, when the league reported her theft to the RCMP.

Investigators spent almost three years looking into the case, and Michael was charged in May 2023. 

Coquitlam Little League discovered something was awry with its bank account in 2020, after hearing from some parents who had yet to receive their refund cheques, which were issued due to the baseball season being cancelled in response to COVID-19. 

On June 9 of that year, the league reported having close to $230,000 in financial assets. By August, that number had dwindled down to $3,000.

Speaking to CTV News on Thursday, the organization's president Sandon Fraser said he was satisfied with the sentence Michael received.

“My personal opinion is outside of jail might even be harder,” he said. “You’re not going to run into community members you stole money from in jail."

Fraser says the CLL will likely never know the exact amount of money that was taken, but believes it was upwards of $260, 000.

Despite claims from Michael’s lawyer that she paid back $110, 000 after she was arrested, Fraser says the organization hasn’t received anything since they first discovered the money was gone.

“We haven’t had any contact with her or anyone representing her, and we haven’t seen any funds come in since that date,” he said.

Fraser says it’s been a challenging four years, but seeing the community rally together has been a silver lining.

“Obviously, you don’t want a situation like this to happen, but when the community comes together – the sponsors, the players, the families – it’s a really cool thing to see,” he said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Becca Clarkson and Nafeesa Karim