Failed MLB pitcher Ben Hendrickson admits to stealing $145K as accountant

A former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher who went 1-10 in the big leagues has admitted to stealing at least $145,000 while working as an accountant in Minnesota.

Benjamin J. Hendrickson, who finished his MLB career in 2006 with a 7.41 ERA after just 14 appearances over two seasons, pleaded guilty last week in Anoka County District Court to two counts of theft by swindle, which covered roughly $145,000 of the $250,000 he was accused of stealing from Floors Northwest in Fridley, the Star Tribune reports.

Two other counts that Hendrickson, 38, faced were dismissed. He’s now set to receive a 90-day jail sentence under a plea agreement with prosecutors after admitting to police that he stole from the flooring company “to help pay bills as he was working paycheck to paycheck and not getting ahead,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper.

Authorities said Hendrickson — a longtime employee who left the company in 2017 — altered the amount of cash he received to make it appear as though he collected fewer funds from sales employees. He then deposited a lesser amount and kept the remainder, with up to $160,000 of the suspected stolen cash bilked during the last two years of his job.

Hendrickson also moved $10,000 of company funds to a personal health care account to offset his medical bills. Hendrickson later told investigators he thought the amount he stole from the company was somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000, according to the criminal complaint.

Hendrickson, who was listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds during his playing days, last pitched for the Brewers in 2006, finishing his season with an 0-2 record and a 12.00 ERA in four games. He then toiled in the minor leagues until 2009, when he was released by the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, the newspaper reports.

Hendrickson, of Excelsior, Minnesota, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26. He could not be reached for comment early Tuesday.

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