{"id":63239,"date":"2026-03-02T18:51:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=63239"},"modified":"2026-03-02T18:52:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:52:01","slug":"recent-reports-from-lake-wales-florida-indicate-that-two-women-have-been-arrested-and-charged-following-a-criminal-investigation-into-the-misappropriation-of-funds-from-the-lake-wales-little-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/02\/recent-reports-from-lake-wales-florida-indicate-that-two-women-have-been-arrested-and-charged-following-a-criminal-investigation-into-the-misappropriation-of-funds-from-the-lake-wales-little-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent reports from Lake Wales, Florida, indicate that two women have been arrested and charged following a criminal investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the Lake Wales Little League"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recent reports from Lake Wales, Florida, indicate that two women have been arrested and charged following a criminal investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the Lake Wales Little League<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Lake Wales Police Department detectives found Stephanie Witt and Alicia Bird systematically used Lake Wales Little League bank cards, which they had access to, in order to obtain personal goods and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation reportedly centered on the unauthorized use of league finances, a situation that often impacts community trust and the resources available for youth sports. While specific details regarding the exact dollar amount and the specific roles of the individuals have been emerging through local law enforcement updates, the case follows a string of similar incidents involving youth sports organizations in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between November 22nd, 2021, and December 18th, 2024, Witt used the Little League’s bank cards to obtain personal goods and services totaling $6,670.97. As treasurer, Bird was responsible for managing the financial affairs of the organization. Between May 21st, 2022 and February 10th, 2025, Bird used the Little League’s bank cards to obtain personal goods and services totaling $2,598.79. Witt and Bird were arrested and charged with Grand Theft and Scheme to Defraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary of the Investigation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The Allegations:<\/strong> The individuals are accused of using the Little League\u2019s bank accounts or credit cards for personal expenses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Discovery:<\/strong> Discrepancies were typically found during internal audits or when new board members requested access to financial records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Legal Action:<\/strong> Charges often include Grand Theft<\/strong> and Scheme to Defraud<\/strong>, depending on the duration and scale of the misappropriation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Broader Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident for the Lake Wales Little League. The organization has faced several setbacks over the years, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • 2023:<\/strong> A significant burglary where a thief stole money, a safe, and even a life-saving defibrillator from the concession stands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 2015:<\/strong> A series of four consecutive break-ins where equipment and cash were stolen by a local teenager.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      These financial hurdles are particularly damaging for volunteer-run organizations that rely on registration fees and local sponsorships to provide uniforms, equipment, and field maintenance for children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Recent reports from Lake Wales, Florida, indicate that two women have been arrested and charged following a criminal investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the Lake Wales Little League.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"14","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDNcL2ltYWdlcy01LndlYnA_Zml0PTI5OSUyQzE2OSZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlJlY2VudCByZXBvcnRzIGZyb20gTGFrZSBXYWxlcywgRmxvcmlkYSwgaW5kaWNhdGUgdGhhdCB0d28gd29tZW4gaGF2ZSBiZWVuIGFycmVzdGVkIGFuZCBjaGFyZ2VkIGZvbGxvd2luZyBhIGNyaW1pbmFsIGludmVzdGlnYXRpb24gaW50byB0aGUgbWlzYXBwcm9wcmlhdGlvbiBvZiBmdW5kcyBmcm9tIHRoZSBMYWtlIFdhbGVzIExpdHRsZSBMZWFndWUiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.e8irbyUkg_syQZITe_o5YGqFeX6sYFM0qRrIs17UfiQMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[2332,13881,13880],"class_list":["post-63239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-florida","tag-indicate-that-two-women-have-been-arrested-and-charged-following-a-criminal-investigation-into-the-misappropriation-of-funds-from-the-lake-wales-little-league","tag-recent-reports-from-lake-wales"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63241,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63239\/revisions\/63241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}