Apology to boosters

Ex-officer sentenced for embezzling $19,680 from Belpre organization

By Sam Shawver, sshawver@mariettatimes.com
A former vice president of the Belpre Athletic Boosters was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to repay $19,680 she stole from the boosters organization during the 2006-07 school year.

Sherrie Dotson, 41, of 2117 Rockland Ave., Belpre, was sentenced Friday by Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Susan Boyer. Dotson pleaded guilty to the charges during a previous hearing in late February.

“I would like to say how very sorry I am to the Belpre Athletic Boosters and to all of those who support the boosters. I made a very bad choice and will have to live with this all of my life,” a sobbing Dotson read from a prepared statement prior to her sentencing.

Boosters president Dan Law also read a statement to the court.

“This shocked all of us who were involved, and it left us with feelings of betrayal,” he said. “And it left the boosters unable to support our athletic programs.”

Law added that donations from the community have been down since August when the crime came to light after a bank teller questioned the authenticity of Law’s signature on a check that Dotson had attempted to pass.

An audit later revealed she had improperly passed about 60 checks totaling $19,680, although some boosters members believed she could have taken as much as $5,000 more as Dotson was also in charge of cash receipts from 50-50 raffles and concessions sales.

“It was hard to document all of that money, but the $19,680 was what we could document through forged checks,” booster member B.J. Cassaday said following Friday’s hearing.

Defense attorney George Cosenza asked for leniency.

“Mrs. Dotson led an exemplary life up to this point,” he said. “From day one she has been absolutely devastated and has become an emotional mess.”

Cosenza said the offense is a fifth-degree felony and he believed community control sanction, rather than prison, would be adequate.

He also noted the defendant’s son is a high school senior and Dotson would miss his graduation if she were confined to prison.

Although Boyer sentenced Dotson to 12 months in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, the judge added that she would consider an appeal for early release.

Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider said that would allow Dotson’s counsel to file for her release after she serves 30 days in prison.

Law said a 30-day prison stay would likely be enough of a shock to prevent Dotson from repeating such a crime.

“But basically we’re just worried about getting our money back,” he said. “When this happened she left us with just $8,000, and $5,000 of that had to go immediately into the school athletic fund.”

The school has now taken over the responsibility of writing checks to pay for items and activities out of the fund, which will help alleviate potential future problems, Law said.

Cosenza said Dotson, who until recently had been employed by Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield, would pay the first $10,000 of restitution to the boosters on Friday, and another $4,000 would be coming out of her 401K plan. He said the remaining $5,680 would also be paid “in short term.”