CLEVELAND — Former teller Michael Ruksenas pleaded guilty Monday in Cleveland's U.S.District Court to conspiring to embezzle more than $481,000 fromthe $23.6 million Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union that led to itscollapse in July.

As part of a plea deal, Ruksenas has agreed to cooperate withand testify for federal prosecutors who indicated at Monday's courthearing that more people are expected to face charges in themassive fraud case.

Ruksenas, 33, conspired with the formerpresident/CEO of Taupa Lithuanian CU, Alex Spirikaitis, and“others known or unknown,” according to court documents.

During Ruksenas' 26-minute hearing, Assistant U.S. AttorneyRobert J. Patton told U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin that heexpects to prosecute six more people who were allegedly involved inthe embezzlement conspiracy.

Ruksenas' sentence hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 28. Hecould face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.The plea deal also requires Ruksenas to pay restitution of $481,501to the NCUA.

Ruksenas and Spirikaitis were stealing funds from the creditunion for years and up to just one month before state and federalregulators shuttered the credit union, according to courtdocuments.

When Ruksenas started working as a teller at Taupa Lithuanian CUin 1999, Spirikaitis routinely reviewed the daily share draftreport. He circled the names of certain members listed on thereport with NSF checks and instructed Ruksenas to pay the NSFchecks Spirikaitis had circled, court documents show.

After Ruksenas learned Spirikaitis honored overdrafts fromcertain accounts, Ruksenas began withdrawing funds from his twoaccounts even though he didn't maintain sufficient balances tocover the withdrawals. Spirikaitis then transferred funds fromTaupa directly into Ruksenas' personal accounts to cover theoverdrafts, according to court documents.

Spirikaitis, who was charged with making false statements aboutthe credit union's finances in October and is in federal custody,appears to be cooperating with federal prosecutors as well.

The federal grand jury had a Nov. 20 deadline to return anindictment against Spirikaitis. But at the request of Spirikaitislawyer, Darin Thompson of Cleveland, the deadline was extended toDec. 20 to give them more time to “fully explore pre-indictmentnegotiations with the government.”

Court documents have revealed about $10 million to $16 millionmay have been embezzled from the credit union, which would make itone of the largest fraud cases in credit union history.

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In addition to his teller position, Ruksenas also worked as ahome health aide for one of Spirikaitis' relatives from 2007through 2009.

During that time, Spirikaitis fraudulently transferred about$200,000 into Ruksenas' Taupa accounts. Starting in early 2009,Spirikaitis transferred about $4,000 twice a month in to Ruksenasaccounts, according to court documents.

What's more, Ruksenas requested Spirikaitis increase the amountof monthly transfers from $8,000 to $9,000 a month, so “Ruksenascould show his family members that he was a successful employee,”court records show.

While Spirikaitis obliged Ruksenas' request for that $1,000 amonth increase, Ruksenas told others that the money deposited intohis Taupa accounts were legitimate payments from his employer.

Court documents also show Spirikaitis transferred $9,000 toRuksenas' account on June 13, exactly one month before stateauthorities and the NCUA moved in to liquidate the Cleveland creditunion on July 13.

Spirikaitis also allegedly used credit union funds to purchaseRuksenas a Jeep Cherokee.

A final forfeiture order also was approved by a federal courtjudge last month that allows the federal government to sell amillion-dollar home built by Spirikaitis in the Clevelandsuburb of Solon. Funds from the sale of the home will bedistributed to the NCUA, among others.

Federal authorities suspect the house was built with moneyembezzled from the credit union as Spirikaitis was earning only$50,000 annually, according to court papers.

Court documents also revealed that NCUA authorities discovered10,000 rounds of ammunition and multiple semi-automatic weaponsin the credit union's storage room in July when they seized theinstitution.

What remains a mystery is why Spirikaitis kept these weapons andammunition in the credit union. Federal prosecutors and the FBIdeclined to comment on Spirikaitis' intent.