MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A woman arrested last week for allegedly stealing $47,000 from the Middletown Youth Football League was in court on Tuesday for a bail hearing.
Following an extensive investigation, Lake County Sheriff's detectives arrested Carol Ann Outen, 38, at her Middletown home on Thursday, Jan. 9, for grand theft and fraudulent use of a check, as Lake County News has reported.
It's alleged that Outen took the funds from 2011 into early 2012 while she worked was the league's treasurer.
The sheriff's office received a report in May 2012 that Outen had failed to pay several league bills, spurring the investigation.
Outen was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to enter a plea in the case, which is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson.
However, Outen's defense attorney, Stephen Carter, said plea entry was put over until Jan. 28.
“The prosecution had little of the discovery available to us and so we put it over so we could see the actual police reports involved in the case,” said Carter, noting there's a large amount of records that he needs to be able to review.
Instead, the Tuesday hearing turned to the matter of a PC 1275.1 hold that had been placed on Outen, who has remained in jail since her arrest last week. Her bail was set at $30,000.
Carter explained that such a hold prevents a person from potentially using feloniously obtained funds to pay for bail in order to be released from custody.
“We were able to show the prosecution the source of the funds,” said Carter, with both the defense and prosecution stipulating that Outen's bail was coming from a proper source.
As a result, Judge Andrew Blum agreed to release Outen's bail hold, which Carter said in effect meant she could post bail.
Outen, who Carter said has no criminal record, was released from custody later on Tuesday, according to jail custody records.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.