FERNDALE - The president of a Ferndale firefighter association stole $21,000 from an account volunteers had set up to sponsor local sports teams and to make food bank donations, according to court records.

Charles Lester, 44, began serving his 30-day sentence for the theft Wednesday, Feb. 15.

According to documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court:

Lester became president and treasurer of the Ferndale Volunteer Firefighters Association in 2004, overseeing a bank account of more than $5,000. The association is independent of Whatcom County Fire District 7, the district that serves the Ferndale area.

In 2007, Lester told board members there was "little to no" money in the account, because at the time the association had a low member count and was not receiving dues like it used to. Usually, the association has about 45 members.

The general fund had been set up to give back to the community. Dues were deducted from a monthly stipend received by volunteer firefighters.

The association held an election for new board members in 2009. About that time, Lester began acting erratically: He missed meetings to advise the board on the general fund's balance, cut off all other members from accessing the bank account and avoided contact "in person, over the phone and by computer."

Two weeks after Lester was told via email the board was going to conduct an audit of the association's general fund, he took an unexpected six-week leave of absence from his voluntary status as a firefighter, the first time he'd requested such a long break since he started volunteering 11 years earlier.

Josh Martin, a loan officer at Whidbey Island Bank, was elected treasurer and requested bank records from Lester, who said most bank statements and receipts were missing or had been destroyed.

With some difficulty, the board was able to get documents from the bank. Lester then produced a few documents and dropped them off at the fire station. He did not say why he kept his documents at home and not at the station.

An audit of the association's funds found several unauthorized checks and withdrawals had been made out to the former president.

In May 2011, Lester told a detective he had "screwed up." He had fallen on hard times, he said, and used the fund's money to pay his bills. Lester thought he had only taken $4,000 from the account. He said he wanted to make amends and pay the money back.

Lester pleaded guilty to second-degree theft in January. He was ordered to pay back the full $21,000 he had taken from the fund and was sentenced to one month in jail.

Martin, who is no longer treasurer and now works as a career firefighter, said the board now conducts regular audits and has at least two people monitor every transaction.