Probation Given Ex-Little League Official for Theft

A former Little League treasurer who admitted stealing $26,000 from a Laguna Hills league last year was sentenced on Wednesday to five years’ probation and ordered to pay back the money by next June or face six months in jail.

Robert Michael Norman, 47, formerly of Laguna Hills, sat with his head bowed throughout the morning proceedings and took several moments to compose himself after the sentence was handed down by Superior Court Judge Dennis S. Choate. He later left the courtroom holding his head with both hands and refused to talk to reporters.

Norman, who could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison for stealing the money from the Mission Hills Little League, made a payment of $4,800 toward the debt immediately after the proceedings Wednesday. He had previously paid back $1,500 to the league, according to his lawyer, Julian Bailey.

“We’re happy that he can continue to make full restitution,” said Bailey. “He’s very remorseful that he hurt the league, his family and the kids. I think what everyone is concerned with is getting the money back into the hands of the Little League.”

Little League officials who attended the sentencing said they were pleased with the judge’s decision.

“Our goal as a league was to insure that restitution was made,” said Cheryl Edwards, league president. “He could have served time in jail and that would have delayed him paying us back.”

Bailey said that Norman, a former stockbroker, now has a full-time job but declined to say where or in what profession because, he said, “we don’t want him to lose his job over this.”

However, Michael E. Wenzel, an attorney for the league, called Norman an “admitted thief” and urged the judge to sentence the man to at least one year in jail.

“He tried to destroy this volunteer organization,” said Wenzel, adding that a jail sentence would “send a message to all volunteer organizations” that this type of theft would not be tolerated.

But Choate said that if Norman was sent to jail, there would be no way for him to pay back the league.

League officials discovered the theft and contacted the Sheriff’s Department in November, 1990. Officials also confronted Norman, who signed a confession and a $35,000 promissory note, pledging to return the money to the league in payments to be made over a year, league officials said.

At the time, Norman had recently lost his job as a stockbroker when his employer went out of business. In addition to suffering financially, Norman also had marital problems, Bailey said. At one point, Norman delivered newspapers while looking for a permanent job, Bailey said.

Norman, the father of two boys who played in the league, has since been divorced and moved from Laguna Hills to an undisclosed location. As part of his sentence, Norman is banned from participating in any future community activities.

Norman was not arrested until last April because the league’s accountant had not completed an audit of its financial records, which was required before charges could be filed.

“He made one payment and never made another one and didn’t return our calls,” Edwards said in court testimony. “He’s not an honest man and he’s not a trustworthy man.”

In a letter to the league’s 867 children and to local newspapers in May, Norman expressed “profound sorrow” and promised to make both moral and financial restitution to the group, which will be called the Laguna Hills Little League this year.

The league consists of 65 teams and includes members from Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo. The money Norman took had been earmarked for a batting machine, player jackets, fences and other equipment, league officials said.

“It’s been a really trying year,” Edwards said. “We have parents who are still angry and upset and feel as if they have been violated. They now have no trust in the league.”