HERMITAGE, Pa. (WKBN) — The former CEO of the Shenango Valley YMCA is expected to be arraigned later Tuesday on charges he stole more than $400,000 from both the YMCA, the Hermitage Little League Association and from a 95-year-old woman who was donating money for scholarships.
Robert States, 40, faces 11 third-degree felony counts of theft. He is expected to be arraigned before the district justice in Farrell.
An affidavit prepared by Detective Joseph J. Vasectti for the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office said that States took about $109,000 from the little league alone, mostly to replace money he is accused of taking from the YMCA.
The affidavit said the criminal activity took place between Jan. 1, 2019, and Feb. 28, 2022, which is also the same day investigators served a search warrant at a local bank to examine State’s bank records.
The affidavit said that States was taking money from the YMCA’s checking account as well as spending over $97,000 on two of its credit cards.
He also took out a high-interest loan in the YMCA’s name in 2022 without permission and the Y defaulted on the loan, leading to a civil judgment against them in Mercer County Common Pleas Court, the affidavit said.
A 95-year-old woman from Hermitage and her family personally met with States in 2019 to start a scholarship for underprivileged children. Over $50,000 was given to the YMCA to start the scholarship fund.
Instead, States cashed those checks and others for a total of over $52,000 into the YMCA’s bank account instead of being used to fund the scholarships, the affidavit said, which means those funds were misapplied and stolen, according to the affidavit.
