NEW: Report sheds light on former Bryan ISD coach’s arrest

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - KBTX has obtained the probable cause affidavit for a former Bryan ISD softball coach who was arrested last week and booked into the Brazos County Detention Center.

Enrique Luna, 44, was taken into custody on Friday, May 20, on two separate charges related to his handling of money that flowed through the softball program at Bryan High School.

Luna was employed by Bryan ISD for the past 18 years but his work as the head coach of the softball team came to an abrupt end with little explanation from the school district in February.

THE ALLEGATIONS

As head coach, Enrique Luna was the sole sponsor of the softball team at Bryan High School. All proceeds from fundraising activities were supposed to be submitted to the high school bookkeeper to be deposited into the student activity account held by the school. Bryan ISD officials grew suspicious of Luna’s handling of softball funds over the past several years, and he was confronted about the matter in February, according to the new documents obtained Sunday by KBTX.

Bryan police investigators wrote in an arrest report that Luna “had co-mingled softball funds with his own personal funds. The defendant also reportedly operated many fundraisers on a cash-only basis without any accountability as to how much money was raised.”

After months of investigating the alleged mishandling of funds, Luna was charged with theft of property between $2,500 - $30,000, and misappropriation of fiduciary property between $2,500 - $30,000.

He was released from jail on Saturday on bonds totaling $40,000.

MONEY MISSING FROM SOFTBALL CAMPS

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Bryan police, school administrators discovered discrepancies with respect to the summer softball camps operated by Luna.

Every summer, Luna was required by Bryan ISD to hold summer softball camps that are open to kids in the community. The camps have a registration fee for each attendee. School staff became suspicious of Luna’s handling of money for the camps because he would only turn in the exact amount of money required to cover costs to pay the coaching staff and the costs of camp shirts. Luna never submitted any rosters reflecting the number of camp participants or any receipts reflecting which attendees actually paid the camp registration fees and which attendees were comped.

Bryan ISD reportedly found several checks associated with tournament entry fees, loose cash, and a single roster for the 2019 softball camp in Luna’s office. It was noted there were 47 campers listed on the roster and that the cost of the camp was $70 per camper. Luna was questioned about the 2019 camp by school administrators, including the principal, after noting that he only turned in $1700 to be deposited to the school bookkeeper. Based on the roster, the camp should have raised $3290.

When quested about the shortage, Luna reportedly said he comped (meaning he did not collect payment) kids who were unable to pay for the camp. In this instance, that would have required more than half of the campers to attend for free.

Police used the camp roster and worked with school resource officers to identify the kids and their parents. Of the 47 names on the roster, 42 parents reported paying for the camp. Two of the kids never attended the camp. Of the remaining three listed on the roster, two were kids of other coaches and one was Luna’s own child.

Police say there was a shortage of $1240 that wasn’t turned into the school by Luna.

“One of the softball parents was able to provide me with camp photos from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021 camps,” wrote the police investigator in Luna’s arrest report. “This allowed me to count the number of campers present during each of the camps. The total amount of funds that were determined to be misappropriated by Luna for the six summer camps I could account for was $4,510.”

THE CALENDAR FUNDRAISER

Prior to February 2022, BISD reportedly began an internal investigation into Luna after Principal Lane Buban became aware of a fundraiser described as the “Calendar Fundraiser,” that he did not authorize.

According to the arrest report, when Luna was questioned about the fundraiser on February 3, 2022, he told Buban that it was a fundraiser being conducted by parents. Luna had not submitted a request form for this fundraiser, so Buban instructed him to complete and submit one.

When Luna submitted the request form on Feb. 10, he allegedly falsified the dates, writing on the form that the fundraiser would be held from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23. After speaking with students that participated in the fundraiser, Buban said he knew that it had already taken place. Students reported that the event began around Jan. 4 and that Luna ordered the students to turn in the money by Jan. 28.

After being placed on administrative leave, Luna was called back in for a meeting with administrators and during that meeting, Luna was confronted about the whereabouts of the proceeds from the Calendar Fundraiser. The arrest report says Luna was escorted to his office in the Field House where he retrieved cash in the amount of $2056 from his filing cabinet and 12 of the calendars related to the fundraiser.

“When the cash was compared to the calendars, Luna was advised he was short $306. Luna at the time was escorted again to his office where he retrieved an additional $306 which he provided to the administrators. This is in direct violation of school policy and of the defendant’s duties as a fiduciary,” said the probable cause affidavit.

Additional meetings were held with Luna by the BISD administration. During one of the meetings, Luna was reportedly questioned further about this Calendar Fundraiser as further information and discrepancies were being developed. Students that participated in the fundraiser were interviewed and it was determined that there was still approximately $3700 missing from the event.

His arrest report states, “Luna was asked where the rest of the money was and he admitted that he deposited $2200 cash from the fundraiser proceeds into his personal account, which, again, is in direct violation of school policy and of his duties as a fiduciary. He then said that he used the money to reserve hotel rooms for an upcoming out-of-state tournament and provided BISD administration with copies of his bank records which reflect the deposits he made and the payment he made to reserve the hotel.”

THE INVESTIGATION

In summary of the investigation, the Bryan police investigator looking into the matter wrote, “[Luna] clearly admitted to misappropriating $2200 in cash proceeds from one of the fundraisers. Based on my finding from examing the softball summer camps for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021, the defendant also misappropriated $4510 of the proceeds from those events. The total loss to BISD that can be accounted for at this time is $6710.”

In February, the school district held a meeting with parents and students of the softball team to inform them that Luna was no longer with the school district. At the time, district leaders said they couldn’t elaborate on why he left but assured parents and students that there was no misconduct with any student.