NORTH CANTON − A Hoover High School graduate is set to appear in court this week to face felony theft charges accusing her of stealing more than $73,000 from two school booster clubs.
Trisha Lynn Smith, 39, of Lake Township, faces felony charges of telecommunications fraud, two counts of misuse of credit cards, grand theft and theft.
Smith is scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m. July 17 before Stark County Common Pleas Judge Taryn Heath. According to court records, Smith was served with a summons by mail. She was not taken into custody.
She served the cheerleaders’ parents association, for whom she was the treasurer, and the girls’ basketball booster club, for whom she was the youth director.
An attempt to reach Smith the evening of July 13 was not successful. It’s not clear if she has an attorney yet.
Messages seeking comment were left July 13 for the North Canton City Schools Supt. Tim Walker and the Stark County Prosecutor’s deputy chief counsel, Dennis Barr, who signed the June 22 indictment.
Missing funds from Hoover High clubs
According to a North Canton Police report, an official of the Cheerleading Parents Association and a cheerleading coach filed a theft report last July. They said from September 2023 to July 2025, about $66,649 of the association’s funds went missing while Smith was treasurer.
The report said the suspect stepped down on July 15, 2025, due to the accusations of theft.
Police obtained text messages from the association’s treasurer to the cheerleading coach.
In the messages, the treasurer apologized “for not being more diligent and the lack of record keeping,” and acknowledged there had been discrepancies in financial records. But she pledged to tally them “so we can rectify this quickly as possible and move on.”
She denied committing theft.
“However, I hope you know, I’d never do anything dishonest or take from this program. I’ve loved this program the past year and a half I’ve been involved. Do you have a record of what is not counted so that I can make it right and we can all move forward?” the police report said in quoting the texts.
Police also issued subpoenas to Huntington Bank, PNC Bank and Citizens Bank as part of the investigation as well as to Earning Warning Services LLC, which operates the Zelle payment system.
In another police report, an official of the Lady Vikings Basketball Booster Club, which supports the Hoover High girls basketball team, called the police detective on Nov. 24 alleging that the club’s youth director was suspected in the disappearance of nearly $6,900 of the club’s funds from its bank account since May 2024.
The official told police that a coach had written a check for $250 to cover the travel costs for his daughter to play at a basketball game. But instead of the money being deposited into the booster club’s bank account, the funds went into an unknown account.
The official said she confronted the youth director about $2,650 in missing payments and fees. And the suspect made excuses about what had happened to the money and failed to produce it.
Charges filed
The Stark County grand indictment against Smith accuses her of using a telecommunications device to commit fraud; twice obtaining access to a credit card to defraud as security for a debt, committing theft of $7,500 to $150,000 from the Lady Vikings Basketball Booster Club and committing theft of $1,000 to $7,500 against the North Canton Cheerleading Parent Association.
Melanie Wakser, of North Canton, a former treasurer of the North Canton Cheerleading Parents Association, said she is appalled at the allegations.
“It’s horrible. I wouldn’t have stolen one cent. I can’t imagine who does that. It makes me upset,” said Wakser, who said she hasn’t been involved with the association since 2021 when her daughter graduated from Hoover. “It’s for the kids. You’re doing it for the kids. You’re doing it because you love the kids and you want the best for them.”
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Missing funds from Hoover High booster clubs leads to charges
Reporting by Robert Wang, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Wang, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
