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Woman charged with stealing thousands from booster club that supports Marysville students

Thousands of dollars were stolen from a booster club that supports the Marysville School District, and now a North Sound woman is charged with theft and forgery.

In marching band mistakes and missteps happen, but usually they’re so minor that the band doesn’t skip a beat.

Unfortunately a $9,000 mistake could have stopped the whole show.

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“She confessed to me — took me aside and said, ‘Hey I did something really horrible and I need to make it right and I’m really, really sorry,’” Wendy Roullier told KIRO 7. She’s the president of the Marysville Music Boosters and she’s talking about a conversation she had with the club’s former treasurer.

Police say Misty Creel stole stealing $9,000 of funds over a five-month period in 2017. Charges were filed Nov. 5.

“$9,000 was everything we had so we basically started from scratch last fall,” Roullier explained.

Music is the Roullier family’s passion — Wendy was in band, her daughter was in band and her son is in band now.

“They love it — band is very connecting for our family,” Roullier said.

The high school band is an extension of that family, so the boosters help buy and repair instruments and purchase music.

“We see it, we see the impact, we see kids who choose not to go on field trips or events because they can’t afford to pay for their portion of it,” Roullier told KIRO 7.

She was heartbroken when Creel came clean to her in September 2017, explaining she had forged checks to pay her rent after moving the booster’s money to a different bank.

“I would say we were very devastated yeah — all of us, we were hurt, we were angry — we went through the stages of grief.”

For the last year the boosters have been trying to rebuild; parents have donated what they can. It’s been enough to keep the music alive but not enough to replace what was taken.

“We had those moments of being really mad and then being really sad and you’re worried about how it’s going to impact your kids and the program that they love and how to keep it going for future generations,” Roullier conclude.

The next fundraiser will be held at the Dec. 11 concert.