League's finances scrutinized

As is common among local youth sports, the Napoleon Summer Baseball League was informal -- if not sloppy -- with its financial transactions.

Whether that apparent lax attitude became criminal is at issue in a preliminary hearing for a couple charged with embezzling about $40,000. District Judge Charles Falahee Jr. heard five witnesses Tuesday and continued the hearing to Jan. 6.

Tracey Pierce, 37, the league treasurer, is charged with felony embezzling and two counts of forgery. Her husband, Rafe Pierce, 39, faces one count of felony embezzling.

Sheriff's investigators say she forged at least 79 checks from the accounts of the baseball league and a middle school program, AIM. The preliminary hearing dealt only with the baseball allegations.

Prosecutors allege Tracey Pierce wrote a number of forged checks to Pierce Machine and Tool Co., which the couple owns. Flagstar Bank and Midwest United Federal Credit Union representatives verified on stand league checks that went to the Pierce's checking account and to their business.

Some of the money was for storage sheds that were not approved by the league board, and they never were received, current President Thomas Trudeau said.

He said he pushed Tracey to present financial statements to the board in late 2004 and January 2005, but she never did. The board sought a criminal investigation in January and suspended her soon after, he said.

Tracey Pierce also deposited checks to herself and to cash with forged signatures, Assistant Prosecutor Allison Bates said. Policy required two board members to sign checks.

Tanya Lester, secretary since 2003, identified at least two checks that she obviously did not sign.

"My name is spelled wrong, and I sign with a middle initial," she testified. One was an $800 check made out to Tracey Pierce and endorsed by Pierce.

Testifying for the defense, Christine Taylor-Plummer implied that Tracey Pierce was set up, and that Jackson County Sheriff's Detective Duaine Pittman sided with board members who wanted her ousted. Pittman also is a parent in the Napoleon district. Taylor-Plummer, who was briefly Tracey Pierce's assistant treasurer last winter, said Lester frantically hounded her after Pittman questioned her at her home.

"She said she was scared it would come back to her ! that she probably gave Tracey permission to sign her name on checks and she should have told the detective that," Taylor-Plummer said.

Lester denied on stand that she was intimidated by Pittman, or that she gave Pierce permission to sign her name.

The baseball league usually has 18 to 20 teams, each funded by parents and a $200 sponsor fee by local businesses and groups. Board members and coaches are volunteers, while umpires are paid, apparently by a total of $4,600 in cash each season.

League officials said they have tightened up financial dealings and record keeping this year.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.