HARTFORD - A Tennessee endurance athlete has agreed to plead guilty to charges he stole money from the charity he set up to benefit the people of Newtown following 12/14.said in January 2014 she notified authorities when Bruce could not account for about $73,000 of the $103,000 that had been raised.returned an indictment against Bruce in February 2015, charging him with six counts of wire fraud for allegedly defrauding contributors. He was arrested in Tennessee.Content from the Associated Press was used in the creation of this story.

Robert Bruce is scheduled to appear in US District Court in Hartford on May 12 for a change of plea hearing.

Bruce faces six federal wire fraud charges stemming from the alleged misuse of money from The 26.4.26 Foundation. Each charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

The foundation held marathons in Tennessee and New Hampshire, with athletes dedicating each mile run to one of the 26 victims.

In early 2013, Bruce solicited and received contributions to 26.4.26 in connection with a charity athletic event in Gilford, N.H., called the "Schools 4 Schools" run. He promoted the event via social media, and solicited contributions to 26.4.26 through an online PayPal account by representing to potential donors that the purpose of the event was to help raise funds for increased school safety, families of victims, memorials to teacher heroes, awareness and prevention in schools across America.

The indictment alleges that, in early 2013, Bruce also solicited contributions to 26.4.26 in connection with a charity athletic event in Tennessee called CrossFit Cares. As he had in the New Hampshire event, Bruce promoted the event via social media, and solicited contributions by representing to potential donors that all proceeds would go to the 26.4.26 Foundation, which had as a mission to provide funding for the families of victims, memorials for teacher heroes and to increase safety in schools across the country.

A co-founder of the charity

Rather than using the funds raised to support his purported mission, the indictment alleged that Bruce used most of the funds to enrich himself and to support his personal training business. Several of the victim donors are from Connecticut.

A federal grand jury in New Haven

Deirdre M. Daly, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said at the time that Bruce's arrest served "as a warning to anyone who attempts to profit from the tragedy at Sandy Hook."