PORT ANGELES — A woman accused of embezzling nearly $10,000 from Sequim Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4760 has pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree theft and 31 counts of forgery.
Rischelle Lea Heaton, 30, of Port Angeles entered the not-guilty pleas at her arraignment Friday in Clallam County Superior Court.
A three-day trial is scheduled to begin July 17.
VFW Post 4760 Quartermaster William Barker told Sequim police that Heaton had written 32 checks to herself between November 2016 and early March.
As post secretary, Heaton had access to checkbooks, accounts, passwords and checking account numbers to help pay bills but did not have the authority to sign checks, Officer Kindryn Leiter wrote in the affidavit for probable cause.
Heaton allegedly forged Barker’s name for a loss of $9,715, including $2,900 from the VFW post’s veterans relief fund, Leiter said.
First Federal officials assisted in the investigation, police said.
Heaton, who is not in custody, has a pretrial status hearing scheduled for June 15.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
