Woman indicted for stealing more than $100K from Hagerstown youth hockey gets plea deal

A Waynesboro, Pa., woman indicted on a felony-theft scheme charge for stealing at least $100,000 from the Hagerstown Youth Hockey Association has reached a plea agreement. The woman is a former treasurer of the nonprofit youth sports group.

As of the end of November, Whitney Blair Beach, 37, had repaid $50,000 toward the $264,779.75 stolen from the youth hockey group, according to the Washington County State's Attorney's Office.

In October 2022, a Washington County grand jury indicted Beach on a felony charge of theft-scheme for stealing at least $100,000 and a misdemeanor charge of being a fiduciary of the association trust who fraudulently and willfully appropriated money from the youth ice hockey group.

What happened in the courtroom on Monday

Beach was scheduled to have a three-day jury trial start Monday, according to her case docket.

Instead her defense attorney, David Harbin; Assistant State's Attorney Christine Remsburg, and Beach conferred at the bench for a few minutes Monday morning with Washington County Circuit Court Judge Mark K. Boyer.

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Afterward, Harbin said the charges against Beach had been placed on the stet, or inactive, docket. Harbin said he anticipates the charges being reviewed in a year.

Remsburg said Beach had repaid $50,000 and is to continue payments. She referred further questions to State's Attorney Gina Cirincion, the lead prosecutor for the case.

In an email, Cirincion said a plea agreement was reached in which the first year of the case is put on the inactive docket. After that year, the state will remove the case from the inactive docket and Beach will be expected to plead guilty to felony theft scheme.

Cirincion confirmed Beach repaid $50,000 in November and is "required" to pay $1,250 a month for every month the case is on the inactive docket.

"When she ultimately pleads guilty, she will receive a suspended sentence if she made each and every payment on time during the course of the stet year," Cirincion said in an email.

If Beach does not make those payments, the state will ask for her to be incarcerated, according to Cirincion's email.

How you can help Hagerstown Youth Hockey Association

Hagerstown Youth Hockey Association President Chris Powell, in an email Monday, wrote that with the case going on the inactive docket, the association has no comment on the case or plea agreement details.

"What I will say is that through grit, determination, fundraising efforts, our community and our sponsors HYHA is closing out its 25th year strong and, looking to the future, we expect nothing but great things for the Organization and our membership," Powell wrote.

That is a brighter outlook than was shared almost a year ago. In the narrative for an online fundraising campaign for the association in January, the association noted that the nonprofit was "in a grave financial condition" and needed help with startup costs for the upcoming season.

The narrative links to an earlier Herald-Mail story about the charges against Beach.

Previous story: Former treasurer for Hagerstown youth hockey group indicted in stealing at least $100K

In the post, association officials state the youth sports group has "begun implementing internal controls and more robust financial management to prevent this from happening again."

In his email Monday, Powell said that online fundraising campaign was no longer active. But the nonprofit is always accepting donations and sponsorships to its scholarship fund. Checks can be sent to the Hagerstown Youth Hockey Association, P.O. Box 370, Funkstown, MD 21734.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Former Hagerstown Youth Hockey Association treasurer reaches plea deal