(The Center Square) – The former director of a northwest Ohio transit authority will spend more than two years in jail after stealing nearly $30,000 in public resources more than five years ago.
Shelia Haney, who ran the Allen County Regional Transit Authority in Lima, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for theft of about $27,000. She was also convicted of theft in office, four counts of tampering with records and one count of tampering with evidence.
All the convictions are felonies. She was indicted in October 2024 and convicted by a jury in July. Along with prison time, Haney was ordered to pay $28,384 in restitution.
“Shelia Haney broke the law and then tried to hide her actions,” State Auditor Keith Faber said. “She is paying the price for those crimes, and, today, justice was served for the citizens of Allen County.”
Faber and attorneys from the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit served as special prosecutors.
Haney was executive director of the transit authority from September 2012 to February 2020, when she resigned.
Investigators accused Haley of selling authority-owned salvage vehicles and illegally diverting the proceeds to a political action committee created to help a campaign to pass a new tax levy for the organization.
She also received reimbursement for personal travel not related to authority business, investigators said.
Auditors said the crimes took place between April 2018 and February 2020.
Voters passed an increase in sales tax in May 2019 to provide about $100,000 in additional revenue a month for the authority to be used to match federal funds and another $30,000 a month for capital projects.
