No dough delivered in youth fundraiser

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The season is over for the North Austin Bengals. The flag football team that Tia Smith's 5-year-old son, Andrew, was on made it to the playoffs.

But parents say they have been ripped off -- off the field.

"Now it's a whole different ballgame because it's not just my son enjoying the game of football, this is a crime," said Smith.

In September players sold cookie dough to raise cash for the team, which is part of the Walnut Creek Youth Sport Organization.

Parents turned the money into the coach and organization president, Greg Padgitt.

Smith's son raised more than $700. She consolidated the cash into one check which was deposited, and Padgitt told parents the cookie dough would be ready to deliver in a couple of weeks.

But two months have passed.

"My family keeps asking me, calling me asking, 'When are we going to get our cookies?' I'm like, 'I don't know. I don't know what to tell you,"' said Cristina Biella, whose son played on the team.

Smith emailed the cookie company, and they told her never received an order from the team.

Padgitt has stopped returning returning calls, texts and emails from parents.

Parents also called the Texas Youth Football & Cheer Association , which is the league the team participates in.

Six weeks ago Padgitt told TYFA he was in the process of handling the fundraising situation.

"He's contractually obligated not to do anything that damages the image of the Texas Youth Football Association and at this stage, he's already crossed that line," said TYFA's chief executive officer Brian Morgan. "We've already started action as far as procedures to remove him as a member."

Local youth football teams are independently owned and pay membership fees to play in the TYFA league.

Morgan said TYFA does not get into the daily operations of business, and therefore have no control when it comes to refunding customers ripped-off by a local fundraiser.

A handful of parents have filed reports with the Austin Police Department. Detectives are in the process of interviewing parents and tracking bank records to find out where the money ended up if it was not spent on cookie dough.

"If I had any thought this was going to be the case or if I felt like I couldn't trust [Coach Padgitt], I would have never gotten involved, never," said Smith.