HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — An Ohio woman is admitting to embezzling nearly $49,500 in federal funds from the Huntington Tri-State Airport while she was an employee there.
Melissa Hall, 46, of South Point, Ohio, pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft of federal funds. The crime happened while Hall was employed as the airport’s finance director from Sept. 2017 to Jan. 2021.
U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District Will Thompson made the announcement Tuesday.
Hall was responsible for accounting, depositing and withdrawing funds from multiple revenue sources including ATMs and vending machines.
Tri-State Airport received at least $10,000 per year in federal funding, which was deposited in its bank accounts.
From May 2020 to Jan. 2021, Hall admitted she stopped depositing the full amounts she collected from those machines into the airport’s bank accounts. She also took money from those accounts intended for deposit in the ATMs.
Hall has agreed to pay restitution in the case. She faces up to 10 years in prison when she’s sentenced Aug. 15.