Pasadena Center Ex-Official Says He Took $92,000 : Embezzlement: Former controller admits guilt under a plea bargaining agreement. He will be sentenced on Jan. 21.

The former controller of the nonprofit organization that operates the Pasadena Center has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling $92,000 from the complex.

On 42 occasions over the last three years, Neil Sternberg, 47, kept cash collected from the center’s parking garage instead of depositing the money in the bank, Pasadena Police Lt. Wayne Hiltz said. Afterward, Sternberg altered financial records to cover his failure to deposit the funds, Hiltz said.

Authorities believe Sternberg--who earned $56,000 a year--used the money to purchase luxury items, including a Rolex watch.

Sternberg, who had been working as an accountant in the hotel industry in San Diego, joined the Pasadena Center staff about three years ago, said Robert Holden, the facility’s executive director. As controller, he was charged with overseeing all aspects of the center’s $5.5-million annual operating budget.

Although the thefts began several months after Sternberg’s arrival, they were not discovered by center officials until September, when the controller went on a three-week personal leave. A temporary controller, who was hired to fill in, found irregularities, prompting an intensive audit and police investigation, Holden said.

Police and center officials confronted Sternberg on his first day back at work and he admitted taking the money. He was arrested on Oct. 19.

Sternberg entered the guilty plea Wednesday during his arraignment in Pasadena Municipal Court, after reaching a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office.

Although he could have faced a maximum sentence of four years in state prison, prosecutors agreed to seek only five years of formal probation, up to a year in the county jail, and full restitution of the funds to the center.

Sternberg will be sentenced on Jan. 21. Prosecutors said he has no prior convictions.

In the wake of the discovery, Holden said the facility, which includes a convention center and the Civic Auditorium, has made several changes in accounting procedures to guard against future thefts.