The Secretary-Treasurer of the Richland Fire Department is facing a felony charge after Greene County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh filed a criminal case on Wednesday alleging over $4,000 is missing from department funds.

Jamie Sherer, 34, of Bloomfield, who has served as Richland Fire’s Secretary-Treasurer since April of 2017, is accused of using the department’s debit card to make unapproved cash withdrawals, make personal purchases and pay personal bills in the amount of $4,403.68.

Bloomfield Town Marshal Kenneth Tharp has been investigating since Richland Fire’s board president reported the missing funds in early July.

Tharp reported that of the three members of the department that had access to the debit card, two have been eliminated as suspects through polygraph examinations but the third, Sherer, retained legal counsel who told Tharp Sherer would not be talking to him. Tharp also noted that Sherer was the only person who knew the PIN number for the card.

This case was filed in Greene Superior Court and late Wednesday, Judge Dena Martin found probable cause to believe a crime was committed, and approved a preliminary charge of theft – where the value of the property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony.

[Editor’s Note: It is our policy that stories about criminal cases that are filed in local courts are not posted until it has come before a judge who has looked at the case, has found probable cause and has approved the charges. In this case, charges were not approved until late Wednesday.]

Click here to read the probable cause affidavit in this case.