Ex-cop pleads guilty to stealing widow's cash

LEBANON, Ohio (WDTN) - The former police officer accused of stealing money from the widow of a sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty had his day in court Wednesday.

William Ryan Hunt was accused of keeping the money from a memorial golf outing he organized in 2011 for Sgt. Brian Dulle. Dulle was with the Warren County Sheriff's Office when he was struck and killed on May 10, 2011, while deploying stop sticks involving a fleeing felon.

Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims said in March 2012, he learned that no money had ever been transferred to Sgt. Dulle's widow or the bank account specifically set up for donations, and he launched an investigation.

Hunt, an ex-police officer from the Morrow and Harveysburg police departments, pled guilty in Warren County Common Pleas Court to one charge of theft for keeping the golf outing cash, and no contest to another theft charge for defrauding another business of several thousand dollars. He also pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence but no contest to tampering with records.

"It is a betrayal," says Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims. "It's hurtful to a lot of people. It's hurtful to the community."

Dulle's widow Abbie along with a host of Warren County deputies filled the court room to watch as Hunt admitted to taking about $4,600 from the golf outing benefit to pay off personal loans.

"I don't think he meant to take the money when he started the golf outing," says Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien, who was called in to take the case because Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell had been associated in the past with a law firm where Hunt's father works. "I think it was a circumstance. He needed the money, there was money sitting there and no one was asking about it."

But prosecutors say Hunt then made things worse.

In his printing company, Hunt is alleged to have charged Southland Marketing and Development for mailings he never sent, about $30,000 to $48,000 worth.

He then gave that money to the Dulle family for the golf outing once the Sheriff started to ask questions.

"The Dulle's have all the money and Mr. Hunt contributed a significant amount more," O'Brien says.

The prosecutor recommended community control instead of prison for Hunt. He will be sentenced March 15th.

Hunt must make restitution to Southland. A hearing maybe held to decide the exact amount.