COLUMBUS – It is darkly ironic that, two days before Veterans Day, the former head of a county veterans’ resource center has been sent to jail for stealing money and an historic flag from the agency.
Rebecca Lee, director of the Pickaway County Veterans’ Service Commission, was sentenced Wednesday to three years and ordered to pay more than $19,200 in restitution following her conviction on a number of charges, including theft in office, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said.
Investigators from the Ohio Auditor’s Office and Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office found that Lee, 52, made unauthorized charges and cash advances with the commission’s credit cards, kept thousands of dollars in mileage reimbursement funds and stole a historic World War II flag donated to the agency by a veteran who had been a prisoner of war, DeWine said.
Authorities suspect Lee sold the flag, which is still missing.
“To this day, the defendant still refuses to tell authorities exactly what happened to the missing flag. She stole a piece of history, and prison time is certainly appropriate,” DeWine said.
A jury found Lee guilty last month of three charges of theft in office, and one count each of grand theft, theft, and unauthorized use of property. She has been in the Pickaway County Jail since her conviction.