SAN FRANCISCO—From April 2015 to December 2018, 56-year-old Athena Harven, former Director of Operations and President of Junior 49ers, a children’s football team that the now-defunct children’s services nonprofit Together United, Recommitted, Forever (TURF) funded, embezzled funds from the organization.
The organization was based in Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley. She wrote at least 102 checks to herself, totaling approximately $241,192. She forged signatures and falsifying them as “payroll taxes,” but the funds were direct deposited to her own bank account. She used the money for personal purposes, which included brand-name shopping (H&M and Victoria’s Secret), fine dining, hotel stays, travelling to Miami and Las Vegas and business expenses for her personal bakery. On December 2018, she was fired by TURF.
Due to being financially unstable and having $200,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, and funding running out, it resulted in the nonprofit business closing because of Harven’s fraudulent practices.
On July 18, 2023, Harven was indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of wire fraud. On July 19, 2023, she made her first court appearance, pleading not guilty. On October 10, 2025, she changed her plea to a guilty one for four counts of fraud as part of a plea deal.
On Wednesday, February 11, 2026, United States Senior District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Harven to 15 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay back the full amount she stole. Within 90 days from her sentencing date, she is mandated to surrender so that she can start her sentence.
