Shrine Bowl Chairman Charged with Embezzlement

The chairman of the annual East/West Shrine Bowl football game in Great Falls has been arrested on charges that he embezzled $55,000 from the charity event.

Prosecutors allege that Jerrold Evans, 78, wrote checks to himself from the organization's bank account during the past three years.

Evans, who has no previous criminal record, according to court documents, made his initial appearance in Cascade County District Court on Wednesday. He was released after posting bond.

According to the charging document filed by prosecutors, Evans told a private investigator that a problem with alcohol and gambling led him to steal money from ticket sales for the game and donations, both of which were meant for a children's hospital.

The Great Falls chapter of the Shrine Club oversees the Shrine Bowl, an annual all-star game for the previous year's top high-school seniors. Since its inception in 1947, the game has raised more than $1 million for the Shriners' pediatric hospital in Spokane. The game is played at Memorial Stadium.