MEDINA — Police arrested a former coach Thursday who is accused of stealing money from Medina Bees Youth Football, a now-defunct league.

A county grand jury indicted Michael T. Butts, 47, of 966 Guilford Blvd., on three counts: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony; grand theft, a fourth-degree felony; and forgery, a fifth-degree felony, according to a police statement.

Michael T. Butts

“Betrayal of a public trust deserves to be dealt with in a public manner,” Police Chief Patrick Berarducci said in a prepared statement. “We are not going to tolerate this kind of crime in Medina.”

Butts was a coach and the director of the nonprofit organization from 2002 to May 2011 when an investigation into the organization’s finances and missing funds began after parents brought their concerns to the attention of police.

“This has been a long and difficult investigation, but we made a commitment to it because we felt it was important for the victims of these alleged crimes to have answers,” Berarducci said.

“The indictment alleges Butts stole between $7,500 and $150,000 from the youth program, which he ran for years,” said Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter, who was appointed to the case by Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier.

“Our work continues as additional information is being evaluated. I want to commend the Medina police and the state of Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for their diligent pursuit of this investigation.”

In a May interview with The Gazette, Butts acknowledged $53,000 in debt to food, equipment and fundraising businesses that supplied the league. Two lawsuits were filed against the league in 2011, in addition to other active civil suits filed in 2009 and 2010.

The league was dropped from the Northeast Ohio Youth Football Conference in May, and the financial and organizational issues prompted many parents to seek other area leagues for their children, such as Medina Youth Football League and Medina Gridiron Football League, neither of which is affiliated with Butts league’.

Tony Piloseno, of Medina, was president of the Medina Youth Football League in 2010 and 2011 and said the league doubled in size last year from about 200 players and cheerleaders to 400.

“You see this (switching leagues) a lot in youth sports because parents don’t like the coach or their kid isn’t playing, etcetera,” Piloseno said. “We never saw an influx of players until the 2011 season when we got a huge amount of people that came in.”

Michael Matranga, of Montville Township, is the CEO of Medina Professionals, a youth instructional flag football league he started after his son participated in the league’s program during the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005.

“We had a great experience that (fall) season and had a great coach,” Matranga said. “From that point (spring 2005), everything started falling apart as far as experiences went.”

Matranga said he wondered about the league’s finances before leaving.

“I’m a businessman, so I kind of question things,” Matranga said. “You’re counting the kids on the field and there are 60 kids and you’re wondering where the money is being spent because it’s a nonprofit.”
Matranga said he wasn’t surprised to hear about Butts’ indictment.

“Eventually you know someone is going to get caught doing what they’re doing,” he said.

Butts was free on a $50,000 signature bond Thursday, a jail spokeswoman said.

Contact Michelle Sprehe at (330) 721-4048 or msprehe@medina-gazette.com.

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