NJ man gets jail time for stealing $56K from youth football league

A former treasurer for the South Jersey Elite Invitational Youth Football League was sentenced to jail today for stealing $56,777 from the league.

Michael DiFlorio, 49, of Williamstown, N.J., was sentenced to 330 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of five years of probation. He pleaded guilty on April 24 to a charge of third-degree theft by unlawful taking, which was contained in a Dec. 7, 2016 indictment stemming from the theft from the football league.

DiFlorio also pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with third-degree theft by unlawful taking for stealing $1,147 from his former employer, an exterminating company. DiFlorio must pay full restitution to the football league and his former employer.

The state's investigation revealed that from July 2014 through June 2016, DiFlorio stole a total of approximately $56,777 in league funds. As treasurer, DiFlorio was responsible for using the funds in the league's bank account to pay vendors who provided goods and services to the league.

Without authorization, DiFlorio applied for and received a debit card linked to that bank account. The card was not authorized because the league conducts all of its business using checks, not cash. DiFlorio used the debit card to make more than $10,000 in cash withdrawals and purchases for his personal purposes. DiFlorio also wrote more than $32,000 in checks for his personal benefit made out to himself or, in one instance, to a friend.

On top of those thefts, DiFlorio stole over $14,000 in cash generated by the league's 2015 championship game. The investigation into the theft from DiFlorio's former employer revealed that, while working for the exterminating company as a supervisor from 2014 through 2016, DiFlorio stole $1,147 in payments that customers made to technicians by cash or check. The technicians gave the payments to DiFlorio as supervisor, and he was supposed to turn them over to the firm. Instead, he stole them for his personal use.

"By stealing from this youth football league, DiFlorio betrayed its young athletes and set the worst possible example as a youth leader," said Attorney General Porrino. "The fact that his criminal conduct was tantamount to stealing from children and their programs makes it all the more deplorable."

"This jail sentence should deter others who might crookedly consider embezzling funds entrusted to them," said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. "We also made certain that DiFlorio will be held accountable for repaying what he stole from the football league and his employer."

Attorney General Porrino and Director Honig noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to confidentially report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities. The public can also visit www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing confidentially.