Former coach jailed for embezzling $25K from club hockey team
The former head coach of the Central Michigan University Division III club hockey team is serving two months in jail for embezzling more then $25,000 from both the men's and women's teams during his time as coach.
Hired by CMU in 2017, James Robert Cadzow, 40, embezzled $25,539.56 from the club teams during his year-long employment by the university, according to CMU police.
The alleged embezzlement was reported to the CMU Police Department in July 2018 by the men's hockey club president, Dalton Sutherland, a senior at CMU.
Detective Scott Bailey, who handled the investigation, said Sutherland came to the police department with his father after they noticed the club had a significant amount of unpaid bills.
When Cadzow was hired by the hockey club as the men's team coach, he allegedly told the team president, "You worry about playing hockey, and I'll pay the bills," Bailey said.
However, Sutherland was alerted to the missing finances when the team started to receive calls from collectors who needed to be paid, Bailey said.
After interviewing Cadzow, investigators learned that the ex-coach had used the team's funds for gambling and personal finances such as cell phone bills, gas and groceries.
The largest portion of the money embezzled by Cadzow resulted in unpaid bills to the Isabella County Events (ICE) arena, which the team used to hold practices and games. In total, Cadzow embezzled $14,000 of unpaid bills that were owed to the arena.
The ex-coach also pocketed more than $3,500 from a team fundraiser called "RallyAroundUs" where family and friends donated to the team, Bailey said.
There were more than $2,000 in unauthorized charges to the team's debit card, the detective said, which Cadzow used to pay groceries and bills, police said.
Cadzow is also accused of taking thousands of dollars from a joint fundraiser golf outing hosted by the men's and women's club teams. Because they are club teams, they do not receive university funding.
Cadzow is currently serving a 60-day jail sentencing after he pled guilty in March to embezzlement of less than $20,000 by an agent or trustee, a felony punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment.
He was booked into the Isabella County Jail on July 16, 2019, and is scheduled to be released Sept. 1, according to jail records.
He is also ordered by Isabella County Circuit Court to serve 60 months probation and pay $20,760.77 in restitution, plus more than $4,000 in court costs and fines.
"It really is unfortunate the teammates had to go through this," Bailey said. "They want to continue their hockey careers, and someone took advantage of them."
In the 2017-18 season under Cadzow, the Chippewas were one of the best teams in the ACHA's M3 Michigan College Hockey Conference East Division – finishing 39-6 overall. Sutherland had a team-high 114 points on 49 goals and 65 assists. Behind him was forward Ryan Tyrer with 29 goals and 56 assists for 85 points.
Central Michigan hired Ryan Morse as the head coach for the 2018-19 season, but he left after one season. Since then, John O'Leary has taken over for the 2019-20 campaign.
