Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel filed third-degree criminal mischief charges against three former administrators of the Bend FC Timbers soccer club this month as a violation, which are punishably by a fine, but are not punishable by a term of imprisonment. The former executive director has been tied up in lawsuits since November 2021, when she was accused of embezzling over $80,000 through what the lawsuit claims was an improper profit-sharing agreement. In August Tara Bilanski filed a defamation suit against the BFCT and the board president that claimed $5.1 million in damages.
Jen Davin, a former coach and assistant director, and Emily Williams, a former accountant and bookkeeper, are also named in the suit. The state is alleging that Williams and Bilanski intentionally deleted hundreds of documents from BFCT's Google drive with the intent to inconvenience the soccer club's operations. The state also alleges they downloaded documents that would aid them in the creation of a competing club — now named Apex Soccer Club.
"Members of a local nonprofit organization focused on kids disagreed with the board of directors of the organization, and rather than channeling their ire into advocating for change, they unlawfully tampered and interfered with property of the organization," Hummel said in a press release. "In addition to setting a bad example for the kids served by the organization, the actions of the suspects in this case violated the law."
The documents were allegedly tampered with in the days following Bilanski's firing. The day before Bilanski was fired, 17 coaches signed a letter indicating they were going to strike over discontent with the board of directors and the board's attempts to "marginalize" Bilanski and John O'Sullivan, the director of coach development at the time. All three defendants signed on to the work stoppage. In an interview with the Source Weekly last year, Bilanski denied she'd embezzled or used trade secrets.
In May Hummel announced that his office was investigating claims made in the civil embellishment suit. Bilanski, Williams and Davin will appear in court on Dec. 29.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated former administrators of the Bend FC Timbers were facing misdemeanor criminal mischief charges, however the District Attorney is charging what would be misdemeanors as violations — meaning there is no possibility of jail time.
