News · Sault Ste. Marie
Former Soo Area Little League president gets 11 months in jail for taking more than $46,000 from the league
SAULT STE. MARIE — The former president, treasurer and coach of Soo Area Little League will spend 11 months in jail for taking more than $46,000 from the nonprofit youth league, the Chippewa County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Matthew David Hudecek was sentenced Oct. 27 in the 50th Circuit Court by Judge James P. Lambros. He had pleaded guilty to embezzlement by an agent or trustee of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000, a felony that carries up to five years in prison, according to the prosecutor’s release, published by EUP News.
Eleven months was the top of his sentencing guidelines, which called for a minimum of zero to 11 months.
A Michigan State Police investigation found that over about two years, from 2022 into 2024, Hudecek deposited league money into his personal bank account, forged other board members’ signatures on checks he deposited there, and set up a PayPal account that sent payments meant for the league to his own account, the prosecutor’s office said.
Spread over two years, $46,000 works out to roughly $1,900 a month.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Edwards told the court the loss hit the children directly: because of the shortfall, league members went without jerseys and equipment. Members of the league’s board also spoke at the sentencing, describing the volunteer hours spent fundraising and their worry that the case had damaged the community’s trust in the league.
Hudecek repaid the money in full. In explaining the sentence, Lambros told him that if he had not, the court would have gone above the guidelines and sent him to prison “for stealing from children,” the release said.
“This case is about more than money. It is about the trust placed in someone who was responsible for an organization serving our community’s children,” Prosecutor Robert L. Stratton said. “The participating families and volunteers who dedicate their time to fundraising and supporting youth sports should be able to trust that those funds will go toward the children they are intended to benefit.”
The prosecutor’s office thanked the league’s current board members and volunteers for their work providing opportunities for local children, and said the case shows the importance of accountability when people trusted with community money misuse it.
Sources:
Chippewa County Prosecutor’s Office release, published by EUP News, “Former Soo Area Little League President Sentenced for Embezzling from Youth Organization,” Oct. 29, 2026 (charge, plea, sentence, guidelines, MSP findings, Edwards, Lambros, Stratton), https://www.eupnews.com/2026/10/former-soo-area-little-league-president-sentenced-for-embezzling-from-youth-organization/
Photo: Antony-22, “Chippewa County Courthouse 2025a.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chippewa_County_Courthouse_2025a.jpg
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