BEREA, Ohio — A former Browns employee has been indicted by a Grand Jury for embezzling more than $88,000 from the Cleveland Browns. 26-year-old Justin Smith pled not guilty to stealing money from the team over an 8-month period. Smith worked in the Browns ticket office and was terminated in January.
Smith faces a fourth-degree felony for grand theft after being accused of taking money from a special fund for Personal Seat Licenses.
According to a Berea Police report, Smith is accused of making refunds from one PSL account, transferring the refunds to another PSL account and then conducting a refund to one of his five credit cards, totaling 46 transactions.
According to the indictment Smith stole the money between April and December of 2015. Smith`s attorney Mark Marein, tells Fox 8 that Smith will repay the money in short order. Browns ticket holders were not affected as a result of Smith`s alleged actions.
Smith pled not guilty to the indictment, Bond was set at $2,500. According to the police report Smith says no one else was involved in the incident. Smith is not allowed to have any contact with the Cleveland Browns going forward.