Man Who Admitted Stealing $56K From South Jersey Football League Sentenced

A former treasurer for the South Jersey Elite Invitational Youth Football League has been sentenced to 330 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of five years of probation, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced on Friday. Michael DiFlorio, 49, of Williamstown, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree theft by unlawful taking in connection with the theft of $56,000 from the football league.

He also pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with third-degree theft by unlawful taking for stealing $1,147 from his former employer, an exterminating company. He must pay full restitution to the league and his former employer.

As treasurer, DiFlorio was responsible for using the funds in the league’s bank account to pay vendors who provided goods and services to the league.

Authorities said DiFlorio applied for and received a debit card linked to that bank account without league authorization. The league conducts all its business using checks, not cash. During that time, DiFlorio used the debit card to make more than $10,000 in cash withdrawals and purchases, all for his personal purposes, authorities said.

He also admitted to writing more than $32,000 in checks for his personal benefit made out to himself or, in one instance, to a friend. Finally, he admitted to stealing more than $14,000 in cash generated by the league’s 2015 championship game.

Additionally, DiFlorio admitted that he stole $1,147 in payments that customers made to technicians by cash or check while serving as a supervisor at an exterminating company between 2014 and 2016. The technicians gave the payments to DiFlorio as supervisor, and he was supposed to turn them over to the firm. Instead, he stole them for his personal use.

“By stealing from this youth football league, DiFlorio betrayed its young athletes and set the worst possible example as a youth leader,” Porrino said. “The fact that his criminal conduct was tantamount to stealing from children and their programs makes it all the more deplorable.”

“This jail sentence should deter others who might crookedly consider embezzling funds entrusted to them,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We also made certain that DiFlorio will be held accountable for repaying what he stole from the football league and his employer.”

Porrino and Honig noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to confidentially report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities.

The public also can log on to the Division’s web page at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing confidentially.

The attached image of Michael DiFlorio was provided by the Attorney General’s Office.