MATT HULL The owner of the now-defunct Technique Computers in Mariposa has been arrested and charged with embezzlement. Matt Hull, 31, of Mariposa was arrested on March 24. On Tuesday morning, he pleaded no contest to both counts.

District Attorney Bob Brown said there was no plea deal, other than the fact that his office would not seek state prison time. “This is a local time case,” Bro-wn told visiting Judge Carlos Baker. Hull could serve up to one year in county jail. Hull could have faced up to three years, eight months in prison on the charges.

Defense attorney James Lindstedt asked for an expeditious probation report. Brown said Hull has an out of state job offer, which probation would verify. “It would be a factor that would be considered,” Brown said of Hull’s sentencing. Still, he said, there were “no promises” from the prosecution.

The arrest followed months of investigation into the aftermath of Hull’s business failing. Dozens of people have contacted the sheriff’s office since the business abruptly closed its doors. Now, two victims are part of what has become a criminal case.

Hull has been under investigation since his store closed over a month ago. The criminal case involves an individual and the local chapter of the American Red Cross. It alleges that Hull took money up front for media and computer equipment and never delivered.

The Red Cross is out $500 for a projector Hull promised to order. The second victim reportedly paid Hull more than $7,000 in advance for a computer system including two lap tops and a server.

According to the sheriff’s report, the Red Cross had placed an order with Hull for a projector in October, 2009. Someone had donated the money to the organization for the equipment.

Several weeks after the Red Cross issued the check to Hull, a local representative began asking the whereabouts of the projector. Hull reportedly had numerous stories about UPS not dropping it off and it being stolen from his personal vehicle.

The person dealing with Hull in Mariposa said he asked him at least 50 times about the projector, but never got a straight answer and never got his projector.

The second victim allegedly paid Hull $7,000 in September, 2009, as a deposit on a computer system that ultimately cost $8,687. Hull promised the system to the customer by Nov. 1, 2009. He reportedly told the victim he had been sick and promised it by Christmas.

Christmas came and went and the victim tried again and again to reach Hull. Technique also had a computer of the victim’s to be repaired. In the end, Hull took about $4,000 from the victim in goods and services.

The sheriff’s office contacted Hull about the computer that had not been returned and the computer server that had never been delivered. Hull told the deputy that he “is working with Dell computers to get reimbursed for the cost of the lap tops.”

Hull gave the deputy the server, but said he was in the process of uploading all the updates on the other computer. He said he would take it to the victim the following morning. The time came and went, and again the computer was not delivered.

On March 24, Hull contacted the sheriff’s office to say his wife was unable to drop off the computer. He promised to bring it to the sheriff’s office later that afternoon. When he didn’t, deputies went to his home to arrest him.

Hull is charged with two felony counts of embezzlement, and remains in custody at the Mariposa County Jail on $50,000 bail, which was increased at a brief court hearing on Monday. He will remain in custody until his April 13 sentencing date.

Brown said Hull likely has many other victims beyond the dozens his office has been in contact with. “He was entrusted with the money of another,” Brown said. “He converted that for his own use.” The district attorney added three more victims to the list of those who might be eligible for restitution.

Hull faced a charge of misdemeanor theft in Clovis after he allegedly stole some computers from his employer and sold them on eBay. The police report about the case indicates Hull admitted the crime, but prosecutors did not follow through on the charges.