Leaving a Sonoma County courtroom Tuesday, a 30-year-old Healdsburg woman declined to say why she took money from a Healdsburg youth soccer league.
But in her first public comments, Mitzi Giron acknowledged her theft and said she was sorry.
"It shouldn't have happened," said Giron, standing with a friend in a courthouse hallway.
"My main objective is to fix what I did," she said. "That's what I'm working on."
Giron expected to be sentenced Tuesday.
But Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite continued the sentencing hearing to a later date, saying it remained unclear how much money the woman took.
Giron is facing up to a year in the Sonoma County Jail for three felonies, including grand theft, for stealing the money during an 18-month period ending in January.
Giron pleaded guilty in July to embezzling as much as $51,000 from the soccer league while she was the league's acting president and treasurer.
About 300 boys and girls participate in the Healdsburg league. Giron is the second league official guilty of stealing league money in the last three years.
Former president Kyle Hoffman, 38, was sentenced to nine months in jail for taking $58,000.
Healdsburg police believe Giron started withdrawing money from the league's account using a league debit card about a month before Hoffman's sentencing.
At Tuesday's hearing, prosecutor Craig Brooks told the judge the accounting of Giron's theft total hasn't been completed. He said efforts still were being made to differentiate between legitimate debit card withdrawals Giron made and the illegal ones.
The amount was at least $22,000 and as much as $51,000, Brooks said.
Thistlethwaite said she needed an accurate report of the theft total before she could sentence Giron.
"The amount of the theft is important," said Thistlethwaite. "Twenty thousand is one thing. Fifty thousand is another thing entirely."
How much the woman stole goes to how much money Giron will need to repay the league.
Giron earlier had paid back about $8,000, according to prosecutors. Tuesday she came to court with a check for $2,000, said Ande Thomas, deputy public defender.
How much she repays prior to sentencing could help reduce her jail time.
Hoffman was able to minimize his incarceration by re-paying $12,000 of the $58,000 prior to his sentencing.
The league - hit hard twice in a short period of time – was initially bailed out with donations and sponsorships and after the second loss of funds was saved when taken over by the city of Healdsburg parks and recreation department.
You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com
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