POCATELLO — The former president of the Portneuf Valley Soccer Club has been charged with felony grand theft after a Pocatello police investigation found that more than $219,000 was allegedly siphoned from the club’s accounts over nearly three years.

Cristie Lynn Stone, 51, of Pocatello, was issued a felony summons June 16 and charged with one count of grand theft following an investigation that began in February 2025 when the PVSC’s finance and office administrator contacted Pocatello police to report suspected embezzlement, according to court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Tuesday.

Stone served as PVSC board president beginning in 2020 and was removed from the board in February 2025, according to a police report contained within the affidavit of probable cause supporting the charges against her.

The investigation began after the administrator, while reconciling the club’s financial records for 2023 tax reporting, discovered PVSC would be reporting a loss for the first time in her memory, police said.

In reviewing records from PVSC’s account at Idaho Central Credit Union, she identified 16 suspicious transactions that took place between January 2023 and April 2024 totaling more than $191,000, police said.

A separate Citizens Community Bank account that the club believed had been closed also contained suspicious transactions totaling more than $28,000, according to court records.

The largest single withdrawal from the ICCU account — $17,863.59 — occurred Jan. 4, 2023, and withdrawals continued roughly every month through April 2024. The most frequent activity occurred between July and December 2023, with seven transactions totaling more than $89,000, court records show.

The Citizens Community Bank account records showed 16 additional transactions between August 2023 and February 2025, including a cluster of five transactions between Dec. 4, 2024, and Jan. 7, 2025, totaling nearly $13,000, the police report says.

Officers obtained search warrants for PVSC’s ICCU account and subsequently for a credit card account belonging to Stone, police said.

A review of the search warrant returns confirmed that 15 of the 16 suspected transactions from the club’s account went directly to Stone’s personal credit card account, totaling more than $186,000, according to the police report. Police excluded one ACH transaction of $4,800 from that total.

On Feb. 25, 2025, the PVSC board met several times regarding the financial activity and “specifically asked Cristie Stone about these transactions, what they were for and for substantiating documentation that these were legitimate expenses,” the police report says.

The administrator said Stone offered varying explanations, stating her personal credit card had been linked to the PVSC checking account by mistake and that she had not noticed. The administrator reported that the board called an emergency meeting for later that day with the intent to restrict or remove Stone as club president.

Pocatello police told the Journal Tuesday that Stone initially told investigators the missing funds from the PVSC accounts were deposits made to her retirement account, but when questioned further, she retained Richard Blok of the Racine Olson law firm as an attorney and stopped communicating directly with police.

In March 2025, Stone provided the club with a cashier’s check for $50,000 described as a “voluntary partial reimbursement of misappropriated funds,” according to the police report. The memo on the check, however, stated it was for “Cristie Stone surgery,” and an email reviewed by investigators indicated Stone’s accountant accidentally left it on the check, court records show.

Court records show Stone had initially agreed to be interviewed by investigators June 12, 2025, but canceled the morning of the scheduled meeting, telling police she had retained Blok and wanted to confer with him first.

On June 24, 2025, Blok contacted investigators and asked for a briefing on the reason for the interview, the police report says. Police told Blok the PVSC board had identified purchases on the club account that could not be supported and that Stone had been identified as the suspect, the police report says.

Blok told investigators Stone had made some repayment and would be in a position to repay the remainder, police said. Investigators told Blok that any civil repayment arrangement would be separate from potential criminal prosecution, according to the police report.

Investigators then contacted current PVSC President Mary Keller to update her on the conversation with Blok.

Investigators told Keller a civil repayment arrangement would likely be offered and that it would be the board’s decision to accept or decline, the police report says. Investigators also warned Keller the arrangement would likely include a clause preventing criminal prosecution if accepted, and advised the board to retain its own legal counsel before agreeing to any arrangement proposed by Stone’s representatives, police said. Investigators told Keller they would proceed with criminal prosecution unless informed otherwise, according to the police report.

Police told the Journal Tuesday that investigators continued to comb through complicated financial records and execute search warrants on Stone’s financial accounts between August 2025 and June 2026, when the court summons was issued and returned. The August 2025 date marks the last entry in the police report.

Stone was served the summons Monday and is scheduled to appear for an initial arraignment hearing at 1:15 p.m. July 7 at the Bannock County Courthouse.

Blok, Bannock County Prosecutor Ian Johnson and Keller all declined to comment when reached Tuesday.

“Because the matter is under review by the Prosecutor’s office, PVSC will not make comments on individuals, evidence or potential legal proceedings,” Keller said in a Tuesday morning email to the Journal. “PVSC recognizes that all parties are entitled to due process and will not engage in further public discussion that could interfere with the investigative process.”

The Portneuf Valley Soccer Club said in a June 15 news release included in a Journal article earlier this month that it had completed a forensic accounting review of its financial records and forwarded its findings to the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office. The club said its programs and leagues will continue to operate normally and that it plans to review all financial oversight measures and internal controls going forward.

Self-described as the second-largest soccer club in Idaho, the Portneuf Valley Soccer Club says it has been developing players in Southeast Idaho for more than 40 years. The club offers programs for players from ages 3 through 19, ranging from recreational youth development to competitive travel teams that participate in the Snake River League and tournaments throughout the Mountain West region.

The club announced in February 2025 it was set to open an indoor soccer facility at the Titan Center in north Pocatello featuring four fields and an administrative office, but the endeavor never came to fruition.

In addition to President Keller, the board includes a vice president, secretary and several at-large members, with Cortney Lew serving as the club’s finance and office administrator.

If convicted of felony grand theft, Stone faces up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.