EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been modified to reflect the disposition of allegatoins that Ervin Morrison was arrested in the theft of funds from the Winslow Midget Football Association in 2011. He was issued a summons to appear in court on a charge of Class C theft. The charge was dismissed after restitution was paid in January, 2012.

WATERVILLE — A Vassalboro man has been charged with embezzling close to $17,000 from a Waterville sports center over a month and a half — the second time he’s faced such charges in the past four years.

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MORRISON

Ervin Morrison, 54, was arrested by a Maine State Police trooper Sunday morning at his home, 1239 Cross Hill Road, on an warrant from the Waterville Police Department and charged with class B theft. He was arraigned Monday at Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta and was released with a pre-trial contract.

According to the warrant affidavit, filed by Detective Joshua Woods, Morrison took $16,852 from All Pro Sports Center on West River Road in Waterville between December and mid-January, while working as a part-time manager at the business.

All Pro is a training facility specializing in soccer that offers indoor and outdoor sports fields, summer sports camps, international trips and individual training.

According to the affidavit, All Pro owner Gary Walker was told by his bookkeeper in January that money had not been deposited into the business bank account and that some records for certain weeks were missing completely. At the time, Morrison was responsible for depositing money from the business.

Walker confronted Morrison about the theft on Jan. 19 and audio-taped the conversation, according to Wood’s affidavit. At the meeting, Morrison confessed to taking the money to help his son stay out of jail, but told Walker he was not stealing it, just shuffling it around.

Morrison returned a portion of the money, $9,632, in a briefcase on the same day Walker confronted him, and Walker gave Morrison until the afternoon of Jan. 20 to return the rest of the money. According to the affidavit, Morrison told Woods that he set a deadline because he was afraid that if he didn’t he might never see the money again.

In his affidavit, Woods said that Walker told him he always intended to press charges against Morrison.

Woods said Wednesday that Walker called the police to report the theft on the afternoon of Jan. 20 after the deadline had passed.

Woods stated in the affidavit that in 2011, Winslow Police charged Morrison with class C theft from the Winslow Midget Football Association. The case was dropped after he paid restitution in January, 2012, according to Kennebec District Attorney Maeghan Maloney, who said it appeared from the record in the case that Morrison was issued a summons to answer a charge of Class C theft., which was dismissed after restitution was paid.

Walker was traveling Wednesday and unavailable for comment, according to an All Pro Sports employee. He did not return an email Wednesday afternoon.

According to his affidavit, Woods attempted to contact Morrison regarding the case on at least a dozen occasions, but was unable to get in touch with him. A warrant for Morrison’s arrest was issued Feb. 11. None of the remaining money has been returned to All Pro Sports, Woods said Wednesday.

According to Woods, Morrison is due to appear in Kennebec Superior Court on March 26. If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail and a $20,000 fine.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire