White gets probation in Soldier Ball Club thefts
A former Soldier fire chief who pleaded no contest in April to charges of stealing more than $3,600 from the Soldier Ball Club has agreed to repay the club and serve probation.
During a sentencing hearing on Friday morning in Jackson County District Court, Ryan White of Soldier received an 18-month probation term and was ordered to pay $3,672.46 in restitution to the ball club for alleged actions occurring while White was treasurer of the ball club. District Court Judge Micheal Ireland said that after White paid restitution and court costs, the probation term would be reduced to 12 months.
A six-month prison sentence was recommended for White on the felony theft charge, but since he had no criminal history, his sentence was to be reduced to presumed probation, Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller said. White’s attorney, Christopher Etzel, concurred with Miller’s statement, adding that White said he plans to have restitution paid within two to three months.
White had originally been charged with seven counts of theft — two felony, five misdemeanor — with all but one of the felony counts being dismissed when White entered a no contest plea to the count in April. The original charges stemmed from thefts that allegedly occurred between August of 2012 and May of 2014, according to White’s case file.
According to court documents, White allegedly wrote checks from the ball club’s account totaling $1,486 and $1,309.46 to his own business account in late 2012 — the two checks that resulted in the felony theft charges, it was reported. Other cash totaling $1,104 was taken at five different times during that time period, resulting in the five misdemeanor charges.
White was arrested in October following an investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office into financial discrepancies in the ball club’s records. He was eventually replaced as fire chief by David Reed, it was reported.
