HOUSTON – An attorney for a former Jacinto City little league president and coach explained in court that his client was in a tough financial situation.
Christopher Vasquez, 35, was charged with felony theft and accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Little League.
“They’ve been struggling for a while and living with me. It’s sad that they got to say this,” said Cook Vasquez, the suspect’s brother.
In court Wednesday morning, his attorney said Vasquez’s 4-year-old son had a liver transplant in recent years and his wife stopped working in order to care for the boy.
The attorney said Vasquez had struggled working two jobs to pay for his son's rising medical costs.
“His main expense is his son’s medical bills. If his son becomes sick, blood work alone can range anywhere from $1,000 to $1,600,” said Vasquez’s attorney.
“Everything that his son has been through, my nephew, Peanut, he wouldn’t do something like this for a charity, for anything like that, he’s there to help,” said brother Cook Vasquez.
Police said Coca-Cola officials wrote a nearly $17,000 check to make improvements to the JC Little League field last September. Police said the organization had not seen a dime.
Cook Vasquez said stealing was not in his brother's character.
“Whatever the situation is, God has everything under control and I truly believe it’ll come out for the best,” said Cook Vasquez.
Vasquez was on probation for criminal mischief at the time of the theft for stealing turf from a business in Tomball. He was out of jail on a $15,000 bond.