BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Former Chief of the Sophia Volunteer Fire Department, Kenneth Churning, rejected a plea deal on Wednesday in relation to embezzlement charges on which he was indicted in March of last year.
The rejection of the deal will ensure that Churning sees trial for the charges being brought against him, which include Felony Embezzlement of a sum totalling six figures from the department over which he had been entrusted to preside from 2017 and 2019.
Additional charges of fraudulent schemes (three counts) contribute to the mounting litigation against the former fire chief, who was indicted by a Raleigh County Grand Jury in 2021.
The indictment charges Churning with embezzlement of a total of $133,454.58 from the fire department, $118,509.47 of which was obtained through ATM withdrawals, $13,740 of which came from cash back transactions, and $1,205.11 of which was received through personal expense reimbursements.
This fraudulent activity purportedly occurred during Churning’s time as chief from 2017-2019.
The indictment came about as a result of the testimony of investigators with the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office.
“These matters are serious and will be treated as such,” said State Auditor, John B. McCuskey, who worked collaboratively with the Office of the Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney in bringing the case to court. “It takes so many players to come and work together to move complex cases forward – and that is what we all did here leading to this indictment.”
Pretrial is set for late November, and the proceedings will not be taken lightly, according to Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield
“It’s definitely a big-figure corruption case,” he says. “It’s something that we’re going to take seriously, so we’re looking forward to getting it going.”
The case is scheduled to go to trial on December 5th, 2022, with the hearing set to begin at 9:00 am.
