The former executive director of the Utah Pork Producers Association has been sentenced to probation after stealing from the organization. Haven Hendricks, 76, pleaded no contest to two charges against him, reports The Salt Lake Tribune. Hendricks paid an undisclosed amount of restitution, the paper reports. A civil lawsuit against him alleged that he defrauded the association of more than $325,000 by diverting payments to himself from corporate accounts.
The theft is alleged to have taken place between 2008 and 2015. Hendricks was fired by the UPPA board in March 2015.
In a separate case, the former accountant of the Oklahoma Beef Council, Melissa Morton, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from the organization. She had also been ordered to pay restitution to the Council.
KSWO News reports that Morton has been employed by the OBC since 1995. In the wake of the crime, the Council has hired an outside accounting firm and implemented a five-step accounting and financial review process along with an audit risk committee.
Sources: The Salt Lake Tribune, KSWO News