Patterson Irrigator | Your Local Paper - Longtime fiesta volunteer accused of stealing $25K

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Longtime fiesta volunteer accused of stealing $25K

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Written by John Saiz \| Patterson Irrigator
Friday, 14 November 2008
“The start of all this was a computer or teller error.” — Mike Estrella Apricot Fiesta volunteer Mike Estrella Police arrested Mike Estrella of Patterson on Oct. 30 on suspicion of stealing close to $25,000 from Patterson’s Apricot Fiesta, but the suspect said he did nothing wrong. Estrella, 47, had been the nonprofit’s corporate secretary and worked with the Fiesta for more than 10 years. The Stanislaus County District Attorney has charged him with two counts each of burglary, theft and embezzlement, for a total of six charges. Estrella posted $10,000 bail Oct. 31 and was released from jail. He said the entire incident is a misunderstanding. “The bank made a horrible mistake,” Estrella said. He said the funds he intended to deposit in the Fiesta’s US Bank account ended up in a personal account he has at that bank. “That’s the truth,” Estrella said. “I’ve always been about the truth.” Apricot Fiesta Board president Jeff Essex and fiesta secretary Marilyn Hoobler both said they had no comment about the incident. With fiesta officials remaining mum, it’s unclear if the organization has suffered any hardship because of the incident. “I’ll bite my tongue on this one and just say no comment,” Essex said. Patterson Police Services made the arrest. In an e-mail, detective Michael Fisher said Estrella deposited more than $25,000 of the fiesta’s money into a personal account in October. “Nothing else can be released,” Fisher said, because the case is under investigation. “The start of all of this was a computer or teller error,” Estrella said. Still, the district attorney’s office confirmed the charges and that it would pursue the case. Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley would not elaborate, as the matter is an ongoing investigation. Patterson’s Apricot Fiesta is an annual celebration the weekend after Memorial Day. Estrella has had several different positions in his time with the fiesta. Of late, he was well-known for organizing the arm wrestling contest. He said all the money is accounted for. “This is about my reputation,” Estrella said. Contact John Saiz at 892-6187 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 1504 Comments (29) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by MICHELLE , November 17, 2008 I fully believe in Mr. Estrella. I have known this man for 20+ years, and have NEVER known him to be dishonest. Bank errors happen all the time, and I am sure this is the case here. None of the money is missing. I'm also sure he will be found innocent, and I hope all of you who doubted him for 1 second have your apologies ready. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +4 a definite mistake written by garcia, D , November 17, 2008 I have know Mr. Estrella for 20+ years also. He is innocent and has been put through this unfortunate process. He is and has always been a very honest person. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2 Innocent until proven guilty written by fred ross , November 17, 2008 First let me say that Mike has given so much to this community, it is my opinion that the PI ran his mugshot a little early, anyone casually browsing (can't miss the front page) on the internet, would likely conclude that this man has already been convicted. This is my problem. The city can leave 8 million in checks in "a drawer", and no one bats an eye. Like Mike's issue, the funds were never converted to his own personal use, so why have to standards.......politics. Shame on the irrigator for running his mugshot so early, in the future, please run the mug shot of convicted folks, until otherwise proven, we support Mike. Fred Ross www.pattersonirritator.com report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 Where is the evidence written by Jeff Realini , November 17, 2008 Where did our police detectives come up with the evidence for this "crime" if it happened in October? This is the fastest I have ever seen a charge of embezellment brought up, unless Mr. Estrella put his account number on the check(s). If it were a honest mistake he would not have had received his statement for him to realize it, and correct it; or for the Fiesta's treasure to recieve its statement to bring the issue to light. If this was a single event, why two counts for each? Something does not seem right here. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -2 ... written by Ed Hillary , November 18, 2008 Last i checked this in the USA your inocent till proven guilty, I think the article is misleading, and make the individual appear guilty. of course if he's aquitted of all charges, it might show up on page 26, if it even shows up at all! report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 ... written by Kevin L. Scoles , November 18, 2008 I to know Mike, and he's a great guy who always has a smile for everyone. At this time I to believe he's innocent. With that said the Irrigator did the correct thing in printing the article. Mike was arrested and charged and that is 100% news worthy. Given that the Fiesta was involved it most certainly merits front page placement. The irrigator is not here to protect locals and good citizens. It is here to report the news. And while I agree, that Mike is a great guy and I dont think he's guilty, anybody who faults the irrigator for printing this article and the photo is off center. Ed how is the article misleading? Can you elaborate? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +5 ... written by Kevin L. Scoles , November 18, 2008 the only misleading thing....is who the heck keeps calling themselves Fred Ross???? Why not reveal your real name, talk about silly small town politics. Right said Fred posts so often, I would love to know who you are? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +5 If we only had a mug shot for the person who left $8 million in drawer = $400,000 in interest written by fred ross , November 18, 2008 Kevin, Feel free to email me at address above. As you are well aware, Patterson is still a small town, so with that being the case, just about everyone who posts comments actually knows one another. You and I are no exception, but if you truly want to figure out who I am, take a short walk over to city hallhttp://www.ci.patterson.ca.us/ or PIhttp://www.pattersonirrigator.com/, they have it all figured out. Fred Ross www.pattersonirriTator.com report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Fred's reply to Kevin - Where did it go? written by Jeff Realini , November 19, 2008 I received an alert that "Fred" had posted a reply, but it is not here? Are these being "filtered" now? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 An opps happens. written by Jeff Realini , November 19, 2008 Sorry PI. Did not infer that it was actively removed, just an opps and I did not know who manages the posts to contact directly. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 ... written by Kevin L. Scoles , November 19, 2008 "If we only had a mug shot for the person who left $8 million in drawer = $400,000 in interest" Was anyone charged? Was there a mugshot to post? In all honesty I'm not to familiar with the ins and outs of that scandal. Just treating this as an incident on its own. And while I really like Mike and have known him for years we can't expect the Irrigator to not report this story. Mug shots are not a conviction and always are made public record. I applaud Mike for talking to the irrigator and stating his case, I wish the Fiesta would of done the same. City Hall is a long walk for me, as I live in La Quinta, CA. I just think your comments, many of which I agree with, would carry more weight if they had a name behind them. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2 Police do not arest anyone for the hell of it written by Angel M Garcia , November 19, 2008 If the Police make an arrest that means they have hard evidence that can convict. Even if it was an error you would think you would catch a $25K bank error when you read your bank statement. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -3 Bank statement written by Jeff Realini , November 19, 2008 Would this/these transactions been on the bank statement and had the statement been sent. If this were an investment account that was rarely used, would he have reconciled the account immediately? As an accountant that has brought embezelment charges up against an employee, this seems VERY rapid. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by Kevin L. Scoles , November 19, 2008 Hi Jeff. I'm confused as to what you are proposing? That the rapidness of this case is due to its illegitimacy? It seems like you are making a lot of strong asumptions. Regarding statements not being sent and the unlikely possibility the the acct in question was an investment account. I would say that given these financial times "investment" accounts are regularly being checked on. I also think its pretty rare that someone has a separate investment checking or savings account. Leaving your $$ in a bank is certainly not an investment. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Pulling foot from mouth* written by Jeff Realini , November 19, 2008 Not really making any asumptions, just the time I had to bring charges for embezzlement against someone it took longer than a few weeks to determine that there was an issue and to id it as embezellement. If someone is going to commit this crime, they expect to be able to hide the transactions in the noise. I was also bringing up the point of the burglary and theft. This infers he did not have the right to have the funds in his possession to begin with. And why two charges of each? Did this occur on multiple occasions, or is the DA charging fore each check? These are holes in the article that I would really like to know about and will not be brought up later on regardless of the outcome. As for the investment account, I meant a money market not checking/savings. Money markets are still a valid, secure investment compare to other "liquid" accounts. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -2 ...* written by Kevin L. Scoles , November 19, 2008 Right on! Thanks for the clarification. It sounds like the Irrigator didn't get any info from Apricot Fiesta or PPD. So I have a feeling we know, what they know. Which isn't a lot at this point. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Correct Spelling... written by DaChit , November 19, 2008 Jeff... This is the correct way to spell EMBEZZLEMENT... not embezellement, embezelment, embezellment....just thought I'd help you out bud. FYI, try spell check next time report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Who said I could spell? written by Jeff Realini , November 19, 2008 Thanks, but what spell checker? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 ... written by judy sanders , November 21, 2008 I KNOW MR ESTRELLA HE WAS ALSO A PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER FOR YEARS.I AM SURE THIS IS A REAL BIG MISTAKE AND I REALLY HOPE IT IS.BUT I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT IF THE FESTIVAL IS IN MAY WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO FIND THE FUNDS.AND THERE HAD TO BE A DEPOSITE RECEIPT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT MOST PEOPLE BUT AFTER I DO THINGS AT THE BANK OR STORE I ALWAYS CHECK MY RECEIPT BEFORE I LEAVE TO CHECK FOR ERRORS.BUT CHIN UPMIKE IM SURE IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 Bottom Line written by DZ , November 21, 2008 Bottom Line, people! The money is in the wrong account! These are donations and possibly tax money. And the truth is WE THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW WHERE OUR MONEY GOES. We cannot say he is not guilty just because he is a friend or acquaintance. Justice has to prevail. Mike needs to get a good lawyer and prove to his innocence, also prove he has no past history for theft, burglary or embezzlement. He has to show the judge that he has no use of the 25,000 dollars and is in no debt collection at all. The district attorney is challenging him to prove his innocence. Estrella's lawyer needs to discredit the teller, or asociate him/her to political plot, in imprisoning Estrella. At this point the teller should be investigated just as dramatically as Estrella. They need to verify every step Mike and the teller did to during depositing the funds. So guys, help Mike out by giving ideas on how to prove his innocence. I believe there is a motive for everthing that happens. Who knows the DA may be in on it? Prove yourself Mike, and hey SCOLES, ROSS, GARCIA Mike may be ready to borrow some funds to pay his lawyer. Help him out!!! report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 Now I am scared - DZ and Angel* written by Jeff Realini , November 21, 2008 DZ please read the amendments to the constitution, specifically those portions dealing with due process. The burden of proof is with the prosecutor, since this is criminal accusation the DA must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the crime has occurred. A person does not have to prove his innocence. He has been arrested because the police have reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime. Arrested does not equal conviction or guilt. Nor will someone who is guilty be prosecuted for a crime as we saw earlier this month. If you truly believe because a police officer stops someone they are guilty I think you need to move to another country that has laws that reflect this. A few examples would be China, North Korea, Burma, Vietnam, Russia, or any other Fascist or Communist country. Here is a line you should learn “arbeit macht frei” and maybe read “Mein Kampf”. I'll say it again - You two REALLY scare me for the future of these United States. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 REALINI, DONT BE SCARED, JUST BE OPEN MINDED. written by DZ , November 23, 2008 Jeff, why would you make a statement like that to a person who has lived in Patterson 15 times more than you. You are a leader and us Pattersonites now and trust you in your motives. This is a comment section and the definition for comment is, an observation or remark expressing an opinion or attitude, defined by Webster's dictionary. I express my opinion because I have been in a Stanislaus Court for something that I believed i was not at guilty of. Have you been in court? I was in court because i fought a traffic ticket. In my court procedure, the police officer was the plaintiff, the officer stated his accusations FIRST. That automatically set the stage at which I felt the judge may have perceived an aura of guilt on my behalf, towards the traffic offense. When i, the defendant was SECOND to speak and had to prove my innocence. In my opinion if i am innocent until proven guilty, I should have the right to speak and state my statements first. As a matter of fact, i was in favor with the court judgement. I won the case, the judge believed me. Justice prevailed but i had to battle. With my court experience, it left a sour taste in my mouth about our county's court process. And i believe that Mike should be ready with his chess moves the second his court proceedings start, if it even gets that far. Of course i would love to see Mike prevail, and the opinions off the jury would see to it that justice has served its purpose. That's all, i didn't mean for you to ask me to leave the country. Please Jeff, Take time to listen to your community. Optimists and Pessimists create for a better well rounded aspect and may make you see things from another angle. Candidates for election speak there opinions in debates, but neither candidates tell their opponent to leave the country. Is this what you would tell the viewers and commenter's of the irrigator who do not meet eye to eye with you? Patterson use to be a small town, i grew up here 30 years. I was also once a volunteer for the fiesta, I graduated high school here and have acquainted with Mike before. Great Gentleman with some nice cars. But i vested in this city and now own property with special taxes. And i want to know specifically where my special tax money goes. Last year we got a new beautiful football field, highly durable turf. Apricot fiesta comes around and gates are closed to our field. What happened? People get hosed where they sit watching fireworks and now we find out our Apricot fiesta money is in a volunteers personal bank account? That the reality i see. The fiesta is dear to us Pattersonites. Past Pattersonites who have moved away to other cities and states come back for the Apricot festival. Jeff, I understand that you have lived here for only 2 years and driven through Patterson on your way to work. But i just nodded my head sadly when I read about Mikes arrest. In reality, we are definitely in a recession, people losing houses, banks losing money, dollar value declining and in my eyes it is not hard to imagine burglary and embezzlement crimes happening. I am realist, with my own opinions and that's why I love America to death because we can comment on issues from other angles. As a 30 year resident of Patterson, I shake my hand to you Jeff in pride. here is a quote for all who wishes to perceive “We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality” Ayn Rand report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 To DZ - my misunderstanding in your original statement written by Jeff Realini , November 24, 2008 DZ, Please accept my apology. My understanding after reading your first comment was that you believed those who are arrested need to prove their innocence. After reading what you have said above regarding your experience in court, I realize I was wrong in my understanding, and I am sorry. My concern is that I do have asociates that do believe that a person is guilty until they can prove they are innocent, and your comment hit a very raw nerve, as I understood it. My comment was not just for those of us from Patterson, but the country as a whole. I hope you can accept my apology as I do hold the long time residents of Patterson if very high regard, and dissenting opinions are important in a democracy. I agree we do need to know how our tax dollars and charity dollars are spent. I hope that regardless of how the funds found their way into Mr. Estrella’s account, the Apricot Fiesta committee has put controls in place to prevent this from happening in the future. My hope is that we have enough of those dollars when the time comes to have a Fiesta that is worthy of our century mark. DZ – If you wish to discuss this further, outside of the public forum, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1 HICCUP* written by DZ , November 24, 2008 Apology accepted Jeff!! No hard feelings here. Everybody in this land has opinions and comments but in my eyes we all truth, justice, liberty and equality. The internet has given more freedom, in which the average person can empower the audience with the words we write yet taking into consideration the audience can or may comment their opinions back. What greatness it is. It is definitely imperative and essential that the city puts protocols and procedures when handling donations or tax dollars. Mike and his defending team should do research on any computer system network hiccups that may have happened with the bank. The bank should comply and show all computer system or network issues and prove that their computers we not to blame upon his accusations. If I was Mike, I would research as to what computer software the bank uses and make sure it is of flawless performance and criticism free. Money is represented as computer data and once that happens there is always room for error. I have been working in the Computer Information Systems field for close to 10 years and there is always room for error. On Mike’s behalf he should not leave those key points uninvestigated. DZ report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by DZ , November 24, 2008 oopS TYPE o Everybody in this land has opinions and comments but in my eyes we all SEEK truth, justice, liberty and equality. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by David A Branum , December 03, 2008 My dad and I have the same name, he deposited 1k into his savings account once and it ended up in my savings account, they never even read the account number just threw it into mine. Banks do make mistakes. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 mr estella is innocent written by austin b , December 03, 2008 he is innocent i know mr estella would never do that hes like the nicest person you can ever meet.and y would he do something like that if he worked there for a while report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 Anything new? written by Jeff Realini , December 05, 2008 Has anyone (PI?) heard anything new on this case? Mr. Estrella seems to have thrown in front of the crowd to be tried, but without any real evidence his life is on hold. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 MIKE ESTRELLA FROM MARTHA written by LINDA MORGAN , December 07, 2008 MY NICK NAME FROM MIKE ESTRELLA SINCE I WAS IN THE 7TH GRADE IS MARTHA HE IS THE VERY BEST FRIEND I HAVE HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE TRUTH AND ALWAYS HAS DONE THE RIGHT THINGS HE IS LIKE FAMILY TO ME I HAVE WORKED WITH MIKE IN THE ARM WRESLING FOR ABOUT 8YEARS 3YRS AGO THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES IN MY LIFE WERE MIKE WOULD GO TO SUPPORT ME I FEEL SO VERY SORRY FOR HIS MOTHER AND NOW ITS MY TURN TO SUPPORT MY FRIEND MIKE WAS SO VERY PROUD OF PATTERSON AND TRULY ENJOYED WORKING WITH THE APRICOT FIESTA AND I BELIEVE HE WAS PROUD OF THE MAN HES BECOME NOW HES LIFE IS ON HOLD ITS SO SAD TO PLASTER HES PICTURE I8N THE PAPER AND SO WRONG NOT TO KEEP US INFORMED AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS CASE COULD IT BE THAT THERE IS NO CASE MIKE I LOVE YOU STAY STRONG PROVE TO BE THE MAN I KNOW YOU ARE AND YOU WILL BE JUST FINE I HOPE THE APRICOT HAS DOTTED THIER EYES AND CROSSED THEIR Ts IF THERE IS MONES MISSING YOU WILL NEED A GOOD LAWER YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS MOGLIE GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1 Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.