Former Gala Pride and Diversity Center director faces embezzlement charges
Dustin Robert Colyerworth, 46.
Prosecutors say conduct occurred between 2022 and 2024
– The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed four counts of grand theft by embezzlement on Nov. 17 against Dustin Robert Colyerworth, 46, of Santa Cruz. Prosecutors also sought an arrest warrant. Colyerworth previously served as executive director of the Gala Pride and Diversity Center in San Luis Obispo.
According to the felony complaint filed in Superior Court, prosecutors allege that Colyerworth, while working as an agent, servant, and employee of the Gala Pride and Diversity Center, embezzled funds from the organization. The complaint states that the conduct occurred over several months, beginning in November 2022 and ending in October 2024.
“Embezzlement of funds is crime that we take seriously,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “It inflicts real financial harm, but its deeper damage is the broken trust and the lost opportunities when the money intended for our community is diverted into private pockets.”
Colyerworth posted a $20,000 bond with Superior Court on Nov. 25 and is not in custody. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 10 in Department 3 of the San Luis Obispo Branch of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
Prosecutors noted that a criminal complaint includes charges that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court and that every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
