By MacKenzie Pennell’s telling, Angela Hawsman stole thousands of dollars from the Summit County Junior Leaders Horse Camp between 2017 and 2024, leaving the nonprofit program teetering on the cliff of financial ruin.
With few funds, the camp had repeatedly turned away children hoping to participate in the nonprofit and could not offer scholarships, Pennell said in Summit County Court of Common Pleas on May 29.
Hawsman, the treasurer and a fair board member in 2022, told Pennell that a lack of funding led to a pitfall, Pennell recalled. Hawsman offered a solution: raise the rates to join.
“We didn’t have the funds (to operate) because Angela spent the money on herself,” said Pennell, a director of the horse camp.
But after Hawsman left, their troubles didn’t end. Pennell said she faced harassment, including from Hasman’s husband, a Portage County sheriff deputy.
Judge Jennifer Towell sentenced Hawsman to five years of probation and ordered her to pay $20,000 in restitution. At minimum, Hawsman must pay $500 each month to the fair. If she pays the minimum, it will take nearly three and a half years to repay.
Hawsman previously pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft in a plea deal with prosecutors. As part of the deal, prosecutors recommended roughly three years of probation, but the allegations of harassment led Towell to increase the probation to five years.
Because Hawsman was convicted of a felony, state law prohibits her from holding public office.
Stolen money paid for steak dinners, cigarettes and a Victoria’s Secret purchase
Now a former Summit County fair board member, the 61-year-old Hawsman stole at least $24,766.85, said Austin Nagy, assistant Summit County prosecutor.
Josh Casteel, a horse camp director, said Hawsman likely stole money for years before 2017.
“There is evidence that she has stolen for years beyond that, that she will go unpunished for,” Casteel told the court.
Describing the receipts that an investigator at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation uncovered, Casteel said Hawsman used the money to pay for cigarettes, steak dinners, a mortgage, a vacation and a purchase at Victoria’s Secret.
“The kids of this community are the true victims of this crime,” he said.
Horse camp directors allegedly harassed after Hawsman stole thousands
When Hawsman left, their finances improved, but Pennell said she and her colleagues were harassed by Hawsman, her husband and others connected to Hawsman.
“When Angela left, she dragged us through the mud,” Pennell said.
Volunteers left, in part, because of that harassment, she said. Between the mudslinging and financial troubles, public trust also fell, she said.
Now, they are rebuilding not just the camp from the ground up, but also public trust, Pennell said.
Angela Hawsman apologizes for her actions
Hawsman initially declined to comment, but when Towell pressed her to make a statement, Hawsman apologized.
“I’m sorry for my actions, and I take responsibility for what I did,” Hawsman said.
Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Former Summit Co. Fair board member to repay thousands in stolen funds
Reporting by Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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