The defendant embezzled money from the youth football team.
[narrator] Now on Tribunal Justice...
What happened to the money?
It was never, like, in a bank account.
There was no record for me to give him.
I think you're more of a scammer.
I'm not going to let anybody call me a thief or say that I'm a scammer.
-Have a nice day. -I ain't doing this.
Next time, don't steal people's money.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Today's case was filed in Compton, California.
Your honor, this case 3032, Ward et al v. Shelton.
All parties have been sworn in.
You may be seated.
[Levy] Thank you, Cassandra. Mr. Ward,
you served as the assistant coach of a youth football team...
-Correct. -[Levy] And gentlemen to your right,
to my left is Raymond Luke and he is one of your witnesses.
And the women sitting to your right are mothers of children
-who played on your team. -[Jacquoby] Correct.
[Levy] You allege that the defendant, Ms. Shelton,
who acted as the team mom,
embezzled money from the team's fundraising efforts
and stole money from fees and dues. You and your fellow Plaintiffs
are suing her for $9,140 that you claim she stole?
Yes, Sir.
[Levy] Now, Ms. Shelton, according to your answer,
you deny stealing or embezzling any money from the plaintiffs.
And you deny serving as team mom, is that correct?
-Yes. -[Levy] As a matter of fact,
you filed a counter claim against Mr. Ward
for $10,000 because you claim that he defamed you by accusing you
of embezzlement and theft. - Correct.
So, Mr. Ward, why don't you tell us who these ladies are, please.
I have three mothers here that's sons played on the team,
Um, Samantha, Tahjinique, and, uh, Nicole,
they all were trying to have their sons... me and Mr. Luke coaching their sons.
[Levy] All right, so you say in your original complaint, Mr. Ward,
her sudden disappearance and failure to provide an accounting
raised serious concerns about her personal use of team's money.
What was this disappearance? When was that?
This all started, let's say, like May, May of 2024,
when we were 49ers. May, June 49ers voted.
July, August we went to Carson Coats.
Uh, that's when we did the Double Good fundraiser.
Then they said our eights, our 8-year-olds couldn't play with nines.
So then we had to find another team. So I called around.
Called to the Inglewood Chargers. They say "We don't have a nine year old team.
We have some boys. We don't have enough to fill a roster.
So we need extra boys. If you guys bring your team over,
then we will not charge you any fees. We heard about what happened
with the 49ers. A lot of parents lost money."
So, basically then we get to the Chargers. Everything was kind of covered
by the Chargers as far as registration fees.
So we was like, the money that we raised for the Double Good, well, let's use it
to buy the boys the sweat suits, the hoodies, the backpacks and stuff
that they were supposed to get for their original $500
from the 49ers. That's what Mr. Luke is doing
because he appointed her, you know, in charge. Um...
This is come like Octoberish now from May to all the way to October.
So now we're asking, some one parent asks, then another parent asks,
and they're coming at him, asking him.
So when we started to question her about it, her and her son
just didn't come to no more practices and no more games.
And to all the mothers, if you don't mind, if I can refer to you collectively
for a moment. Is that your understanding as well,
specifically with respect to collecting monies?
Was it your understanding that that's the role that the defendant played?
-Yes. -[Levy] Okay, so now Ms. Shelton, tell me,
why are they wrong?
So another young lady was the team mom initially.
Her schedule did exactly permit her to be present
for all of the practices and stuff.
I kind of filled in as a substitute to, uh, collect those things.
-And what you did was collect money... -Correct.
[Levy] Place orders for gear, like you have to your left.
-Yes. -[Levy] When you did collect those moneys,
what bank account was used to maintain that money?
I only collected money from three parents.
Uh... Ms. Zeigler being one.
So her payment specifically was sent via Apple Pay,
Um, everyone else's was sent via Zelle.
So it was never, like, in a bank account.
-[Levy] So, Ms., uh, Ziegler... -Yes.
If we can stand up, if you can please tell us based upon what was just stated
by Ms. Shelton was not accurate.
Um, so when I first came to the team, the team was already together.
And she was the team mom. I was introduced to her.
I asked her like where does the fees go?
She told me I can Apple Pay them directly to her.
Is Apple payment connected to some type of account?
So it's through our cell phones.
So it's kind of like sending money through your phone.
Are you saying you had no physical bank account?
-No -She claimed
to have an organization account...
that we've never seen. That she couldn't supposedly Zelle from.
Didn't have a debit card from. So...
Did you have access to an organization account?
No. So a cash out was originally made for the boys team.
Um, unfortunately, because none of us own the team,
we cannot, um, obtain an EIN for that. So the cash app account was closed.
But there are text messages repeated requests for you to provide proof
of those Zelle accounts and Apple Pay accounts.
and you never provided them.
So I do have the record from Sydney, the original football owner
of the first team we played for.
These are the payments that I had a specific, I guess specific parent,
cause all parents did not give me money.
And I did keep those records. Um, if you wanna see them.
Yes, of course I would like to take a look at that,
but I'm gonna tell you right now I got one piece of paper
that you're saying is the entirety of the bank records that you have.
So that's what I'm saying, there never was a bank account.
Majority of the money that they're saying came from the Double Good fundraiser.
[Levy] So this is your Zelle payment of $30.
And then this one, your Zelle payment of $500.
Are you saying that is the only receipt that...
So I have the receipt of Ms. Zeigler's payment from her son
to the owner of that football team.
The Honor Ms. Zeigler's son was on the team during July
That was a payment from her son.
That she paid for her son to play.
And that $30 was a physical that you have to pay.
That's what she paid personal to her child that she's trying to use.
Got it. Got it. Ms., uh, Zeigler, you can sit down for right now.
If you got something else, we're gonna bring you right back up, I promise.
Okay. It only ended up in my personal account because one of the mothers
tried to Cash App it to the Cash App that was made for the boys.
-[Levy] Okay. So right now... -And it did not work.
All I heard from what you just said is that money
went into your personal account.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
-What do you do for a living? -I work for the Sheriff's Department.
-You work for the Sheriff's Department. -Yes.
[Acker] What do you do for the Sheriff's Department?
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Jacobi Ward and three youth football parents
claim Tajia Shelton swindled their league out of over $9,100
Tajia says she spent the money on equipment and gear
and now she's countersuing for $10,000 for defamation.
You filed a $10,000 counter claim against, uh, Mr. Ward
and the other Plaintiffs for defamation, correct?
-Correct. -And you claim they did that because
they falsely claimed that you were embezzling money.
-Correct. -Falsely claimed that you kept proceeds
-of fundraising efforts. -Correct.
And when did you first become aware of the allegations
that they were making about you with respected to those claims?
-When was it? -It was I believe October.
Uh, Mr. Luke, uh, me and him were on a phone call.
He's like saying, "You did this cause you know how they get."
And I'm like, "What do you want me to tell them?"
The point is that you've known about these allegations,
uh, since October of 2024.
[Levy] And you never provided anything to any of these people.
-That's false. -Did she provide you with those ledgers?
[Raymond] No, sir. We've asked her.
I was the head coach. I'm the one that met her.
She was married at the time, her and her wife, I appointed them both.
Me... I didn't see no red flags.
Now, more than just these parents, I have text messages and records that prove,
over nine parents, that's not even in our claim,
gave her 500 bucks for registration fees to play for the 49ers.
-You received those, correct? -Yes, and she never turned in...
-Nine parents did not give me money. -I spoke...
-I spoke to the president... -Just three.
-[Levy] Hold on. -The former president of the 49ers...
she never turned in that money to him.
And I've been asking her from the beginning
to show us the financial records
to show proof to the parents and myself because it looks suspect
So you provided no records at all?
-Bank records, Zelle or otherwise... -[Raymond] Nope.
As was requested, which is not an unreasonable request
to people who gave you money, especially when you've already acknowledged
that there was commingling of money going on.
-[Levy] Right? -There was no record for me to give him.
I get it. And I don't believe... I'm just telling you I don't believe that.
The other thing that they've said and that you've denied
that you're suing them for $10,000 for is that you basically took money
for spirit gear and what they're saying is that
-you falsified purchase orders... -Yes.
...and never actually gave them their equipment.
and when they asked you for name vendors, you wouldn't give it to them.
-Is that right? -[all] Correct.
If I were in their shoes... [chuckles]
I would think the same exact thing that they did.
-Judge Acker. -I don't know enough yet
about this case to get really firm. Here's what I do know.
I am sad that you all are here because you should be back there
with those kids, getting them ready for football.
I think that this case is an incredible distraction.
-Exactly. -So Speaking of the kids,
can we look at the video? I'd like to see them in action.
[Acker] Where are you playing there?
[Raymond] So, those are several different parks. The first were in all grass
with different jerseys that was Carson Colts.
And then the Chargers was at the Inglewood Chargers, uh,
where we had our third team ended up transferring to.
So, like I said, we've been through a lot this season...
Yeah, you have. There are actually three different football teams
-that are involved here. -Yes.
[Acker] Tell me what happened.
The South Bay 49ers organization, when their president got incarcerated,
they had to fold the entire organization, -So then maybe it's not her fault.
If the team folded and went bankrupt
maybe it's a team issue?
-[Raymond] No, you're... You're correct. -And not a
-a Shelton issue. -You're correct. However...
money was given her that she never turned in to the president is what we're saying.
[Acker] And then we have Team two.
So after so the South Bay 49ers is over
There's a new team, the Carson Colts.
Your kids all played for the Carson Colts.
Who gave money to the defendant directly for participation in the Colts.
Okay now, so when we went over to the Colts, they want to charge us 300 dollars.
[Acker] Three hundred dollars a kid?
Yeah, per kid. So we had our first fundraiser.
We raised 900 bucks.
We don't know what happened with that $900.
-She... we had a raffle. -Who did you give the money to?
-To, uh, Ms. Tajia. -Was this the online fundraiser
-or was that... -No, this was before.
-That was the separate? Okay. -This is for raffle tickets.
-[Acker] So the raffle tickets... And we raised $900 for that.
That money was for accessories like wristbands, breast cancer awareness month
-where the players wear pink. -Are you claiming that you gave her money
and she just kept it or are you claiming that you gave her money
and she bought breast cancer bracelets?
-I'm claiming that she kept it. -That she kept it.
-Yes. -So, ma'am,
do you acknowledge receiving the $900 from the fundraiser?
There was never $900. Only about five, maybe 600 bucks.
[Acker] Show me evidence of how you spent that money.
Um, I don't have that. I spent it on sandwiches and stuff...
This is other people's money though.
And when it's other people's money, I cannot imagine
that you're so naive as not to understand that when people are giving you money,
-um, for their children... -[Tajia] Right.
...they're going to want to be able to see how the money's being used.
The problem is I trusted Mr. Luke as a Big Brother and he's on the phone
and he's telling me things like,
"Hey, I want to get the boys snacks, so I'm going to buy the boys snacks
-with the stuff." -What do you do for a living?
I work for the Sheriff's Department.
-You work for the Sheriff's Department. -Yes.
What do you do for the Sheriff's Department?
So right now I'm currently a patrol officer.
I do, uh, like, I guess like street events and stuff like that.
I cannot imagine that you don't know better
-than to actually keep... -What the...
...a record of the money you're collecting on behalf other people,
on behalf of their children. We're only two teams in, and I'm still
-trying to get my head around it. -Again...
Hold on. But I'm going to pass the case right now to Judge DiMango.
Um, you're not undercover for the Sheriff's Office, are you?
-[Tajia] No. -So you must have an ID from them.
I don't right now.
You work for the sheriff's department and you have no ID that says
you work for the Sheriff's Department?
-I could show you my ID. -Let me tell you something.
-I think you're more of a scammer. -[Raymond] Exactly.
[Tajia] I didn't scam anybody.
-I have the proof that... -[DiMango] Show me proof you've got $500.
-[Tajia] I ordered backpacks. -Show me proof you got $900.
-The boys... -Show me proof of the $500
you got from each of the parents for when they were the 49ers.
-Show me, show me! -All of the parents did not participate
-is what I'm saying. -Show me!
So these boys that did participate. Those are the ones that raised the money.
Mine being included.
-My son, his son... -You are one fast scamming talker.
-When are you gonna stop? -I'm not going to.
because I'm not gonna let anybody call me a thief or say that I'm a scammer.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
[Acker] You were asking for money and she said you were or she was sick
-or some such thing. -Oh, yes, Judge.
She said she had a stroke.
[Acker] Did you have a stroke?
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Jacoby Ward and three youth football parents
are suing Tajia Shelton for embezzling over $9,100
from their children's Football League.
Tajia says all the money went to gear and apparel
and she's fighting back with a $10,000 countersuit.
We went through the first two teams.
The 49ers, you had 23 kids, $500 apiece.
-That's like $11,500, right? -Right.
-Yes. -Where'd that money go?
I want to say at least 75% went to her.
[DiMango] Okay, now you move to the next team,
which we already talked about, which are the Carson Colts.
-[Raymond] Right. Yes. -[DiMango] And everybody gave $300
That's how that went. We did a fundraiser. A Double Good popcorn fundraiser...
-[DiMango] Okay. -to raise the money for that.
That money went $6,000 to the whole thing but $3,000 was kept
-by the fundraising team. -Yes.
-Correct. -[DiMango] And she kept the other percent.
Okay, this is your chance to show me proof.
What did you do with the $3,000 and change?
So, uh, Mr. Luke provided me these jerseys.
They were blank. Then i had them customized.
They have the Colts logo on it and the boy's name on the back of it.
And you have proof that you went to wherever it was you went
and they made you that top shirt, which is the Colts shirt,
and charged you for that. Can I have that proof?
So this is for how much each jersey was going to cost.
[DiMango] So what your giving me this says I'm not even gonna look at it yet.
I just wanna make sure I can have it. But I don't have to read it at the moment.
I'll turn it over. I'm very honest.
And how much would the shirts each?
I think he quoted me 30 something.
-This piece of paper... -[Tajia] Yeah, but not that.
...is gonna show that you paid him, not that he gave you a quote.
- This is what you paid. You paid him? -Yeah...
-Yeah. -He's thanking you here, let's see.
I believe that these are the prices.
[DiMango] Okay, these are the prices that we will be charging you.
And it says nada, nothing about you giving him so much as five cents.
So I'm gonna put that aside as well because that's also I was very clear
about I wanted proof.
Did you gentlemen ever get any shirts?
We bought our own polo shirts. She put the print on the pocket here.
But you didn't get that. What you're saying
is that she's technically correct to the extent
that she did give you some shirts,
but they were not shirts that were paid for through this company.
Because he would have given a receipt for that.
-[Raymond] Correct. -She did them
-like at home screening kit kind of thing. -Correct, correct.
Okay. And everybody here seems to say the same thing.
So let me start with Samantha.
How much money did you actually end up paying for your son?
-Um, we paid the $500 registration. -[DiMango] Mm-hmm.
Um, and then we gave the raffle money.
[Samantha] And we just raised the Double Good.
Okay. Tahjinique, what about you?
So it was the raffle money, my registration, and my double goods as well.
-[DiMango] And Nicole... -We did the raffle and the Double Good.
So, this money that was given, who did you give it to?
-[DiMango] The defendant? -Mm-hmm.
Okay, I've been in here listening to the exchange of money from various people.
Three credible women, Evidence of who's given you the $500.
-I have not seen one thing. -[Tajia] I have evidence.
You have nothing. You have nothing.
So at this point, I don't have any questions.
Uh, Ms. Zeigler, would you take the stand, please?
Was there an incident where you engaged with the defendant
and she told you that you said you were asking for money and she said she was sick
-or some such thing? -[chuckles] I did not.
-She says she had a stroke. -[Acker] When was this?
This was like... We were at the Chargers at this point,
and we were asking her for the money.
So, then she decided to not come to practice anymore.
Was this the money from the fundraiser?
-The money from the Double Good. -Yeah, and by the way,
that has to be deposited into a bank account.
-Who was running the fundraiser? -[Tahjinique] She was.
-Were you running the fundraiser? -Um, I set it up after...
So yes, yes, yes. No more word salad.
-Let's be direct. Let's just be direct. -Okay. What the hell, again--
You were running the fundraiser.
What happened to the money?
Okay, so the money that we were seeing the money,
the money was given to the vendors. We went through several designs
and also several things that were produced.
And the money was then used.
-The money was used... -Okay, where was it used?
-Fifty dollars of it. -I need some evidence
-We need evidence. -Okay.
-Also, did you have a stroke? -I did and I was at the hospital
hospitalized in Kaiser in Downey for about five days.
And did you communicate to them, "Hey, everybody, I'm in the hospital."
-[Tajia] Yes, they didn't believe me... -[Acker] You're now healthy.
You must have remitted to them the money.
I do have text messages. I texted several people.
Did you text them with money?
[Tajia] I texted them saying, "Who am I sending the money to?"
She says in this text message, she wants nothing to do with it.
Did you send Ms. Ziegler, any money?
-No, I told her I'll give her the refund. -[Acker] That's fine.
-I don't have anything further. -[DiMango] That's it. Thank you very much.
We're going to retire to deliberate. Thank you.
Court is now in recess. Parties will be recalled.
[dramatic music playing]
[theme music playing]
It would have driven me crazy if I was a parent
of one of those kids. Hard working, trying to do the best they can
for their kids. And she just refused to give anything back
and then had the gall to counter claim for $10,000 for defamation.
-That was funny -It was incredible.
I believe that the counterclaim is dismissed
and I also believe that the plaintiffs have established their burden
-for $9,140. -[Acker] I think that...
this is a situation where I would even give them more
because these folks went through a lot. And in fact,
I was reading her text messages again, as was true in court,
it was just a word salad. No proof of any exchange of money.
And this is not her money. This was money that these folks gave her on behalf
of their children. So honestly, if there is a way
to increase it to a punitive award of $10,000...
$860, then I think that warranted in this case.
-I would agree with that. -What she was in my view
was a complete and total scammer and they met their burden
of her wrongdoing and that's what that wrongdoing is worth
$9,140, and with regard to the countersuit based on all their documentation
and testimony and credibility, was truthful
and that's their defense to her defamation claim and that's going to be dismissed.
What I would ask to consider is $860 punitive damage award
that would be directed towards the children who are playing on the team.
Who were really the true victims here because an adult took advantage of them.
I'm sticking with the $9,140.
I'm not going to start second guessing whether people--
Stupid people are doing things in good or bad faith.
-I mean... -You called her a scammer!
She scammed them, but that doesn't mean...
I, listen. I did call her a scammer.
For that reason, I'm going to dismiss the counter claim,
but that doesn't mean that I continue to impose other things
on her lawsuit that were not before me at this time.
We're unanimous in the counterclaim.
We are unanimous in awarding the plaintiffs the money.
And we are not unanimous with respect to the amount.
-[Levy Uh... -You're going to raise it to 10,000.
[Levy] That it's punitive damages,
and we're going to direct the coaches that $860 should go directly to the children
to be used for something that would benefit them.
-Let's do that. -Okay.
[theme music playing]
Court is back in session. All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
-[Levy] Thank you, Cassandra. -Mm-hmm.
Okay. We have deliberated and with respect to the counter claim for $10,000,
we've reached a unanimous verdict. And it was a quick one.
It's dismissed. You failed to even come close.
And as a matter of fact, we found it to be in bad faith
to bring a counterclaim for defamation
when you have absolutely zero evidence, zero evidence to support that claim.
So it is not only dismissed, it is dismissed with pleasure.
Now as to your original complaint for $9,140.
We have deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict
with respect to the judgment,
but not to the amount. Judge DiMango will be in the dissent.
It is her position, as it is all of ours,
that you have met your burden, so the judgment is in your favor
as to your complaint for $9,160.
That's what you asked for. And that's what she would give you.
Judge Acker and I look at the defendant's conduct
in filing a frivolous counterclaim.
and we believe that punitive damages are appropriate.
-Have a nice day. -I ain't doing this.
[Levy] Next time, don't steal people's money.
The punitive damage award is $860.
That raises your judgment to $10,000 with a caveat.
That $860 needs to go to the kids.
Because they were the ones who were denied the things
that they were expecting. They were disappointed.
And they should have people better than that
looking out for them, and they didn't. So you two,
parents, all the plaintiffs figure out the way to spend that $860,
make them proud. That's the judgment of the court.
Thank you very much.
This case is concluded, all parties are excused.
[triumphant music playing]
All these parents gave up their money so they should be getting their money back.
We just said, "Hey, we're gonna do the best with what we got."
We all felt she was shady.
And, you know, storm out the court room like a toddler.
It's unfortunate that we had to bring her here just to get the money back,
from her for these kids.
We're dealing with someone who would defraud struggling parents and kids.
Of course she won't be the team mom.
-Yeah. -That's out.
The sheriff. [laughs]
[narrator] Have you been scammed? Let the majority rule in your favor
on Tribunal Justice. Find us on social media.
[theme music playing]