Volunteer gets jail for Saratoga horse show theft

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tatiana Zarnowski

A former volunteer committee chairman for the St. Clements Horse Show was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail and five years’ probation for stealing $27,000 from the show’s souvenir booth.

Charles “Dewey” Walling, 56, of 63 Waterview Drive, Saratoga Springs, took the sentence in Saratoga County Court as part of a plea deal negotiated when he admitted to a felony count of fourth-degree grand larceny in January.

Walling also was ordered to pay $27,111 in restitution and is prohibited from having financial involvement with any not-for-profits in the future. He paid the full amount at his formal sentencing Tuesday.

Walling was in charge of the souvenir stand for more than 10 years, and the St. Clements finance committee started an internal investigation after committee volunteer Dan Kumlander questioned why the stand had operated at a loss for five years, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office. Members of the committee confronted Walling in July with information about the lost funds and then reported it to police.

Saratoga Springs police Inv. Jack Barney found Walling had created fake receipts saying he purchased items for the stand, including T-shirts, but really pocketed the reimbursement money himself, District Attorney James A. Murphy III said.

The horse show is held each spring at the Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue. It features hunters and jumpers and is now called the Saratoga Springs Horse Show.

Also before Judge Jerry J. Scarano in Saratoga County Court:

• A man who was convicted of stalking a woman who ended their relationship pleaded guilty Monday to criminal contempt for lying in 2007 before a Saratoga County grand jury.

William J. Clark Jr., 48, currently held at the Albany County jail and formerly of Schaghticoke, was sentenced to 11⁄2 to 3 years in state prison to run concurrent with the 8 to 16 years to which he’s already been sentenced for the stalking and a previous criminal contempt conviction.

The original charges stemmed from Clark harassing a Waterford woman at her workplace and home in late 2006. He was convicted after a one-week trial in January 2008 at which he represented himself.

He was charged with perjury and criminal contempt in connection with the grand jury statements and originally pleaded guilty in August 2008 to criminal contempt, but then appealed his guilty plea. A new trial was ordered, but Clark pleaded guilty again to the same charge and the perjury charge was dropped.

• Paul Backus, 22, of 201 Verbeck Lane, Clifton Park, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in state prison and five years of probation after he admitted to a probation violation in connection with a conviction last May of felony first-degree sex abuse. His original sentence was for six months in jail for molesting a 4-year-old girl in Clifton Park.

• Kimberly L. McCarthy, 32, of 28 Warren St., Saratoga Springs, was sentenced Tuesday to 1 to 3 years in state prison with credit for time already served. She violated her probation for a felony charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

• Charles Chilson, 34, of 10 Lincoln Ave., South Glens Falls, was arraigned Tuesday on a felony charge of second-degree criminal possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully growing cannabis.

• Rick Sweet, 24, of 55 Mechanic St., second floor, Ballston Spa, pleaded guilty Monday to felony third-degree burglary and is scheduled to be sentenced in May. He was arrested in November in Ballston Spa.

• Katelyn Spadafora, 22, of 23 Seward St. Apt. 4C, Saratoga Springs, pleaded guilty Monday to felony driving while intoxicated in Saratoga Springs in September. She is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

• Renee Vincelli, 21, of Pittsford, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of felony third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. State park police arrested her in July in Saratoga Springs, and she is set to be sentenced in May.

• Jesse R. Coleman, 28, of 53 Mechanic St., Ballston Spa, pleaded guilty Friday to felony third-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance, for which he was arrested in November in Saratoga Springs. Sentencing is set for May.

• William H. Ebert, 51, of 14B Allen Drive, Saratoga Springs, was sentenced Friday to time already served in jail and ordered to continue on probation after he admitted to violating his probation from a 2009 DWI conviction.

• Wayne D. Jones, 45, of 19 Chestnut St. Apt. B4, South Glens Falls, was sentenced to nine months in the Saratoga County jail with credit for time already served in connection with a probation violation for a 2008 DWI conviction.

• Matthew R. Rivers, 29, of 114 Traver Road, Gansevoort, was sentenced March 22 to 60 days in the Saratoga County jail, five years’ probation and restitution for a previous guilty plea on a DWI charge from December in Wilton.

• Richard Young, 43, of 567 Clarendon St., Schenectady, was sentenced March 22 to 11⁄2 to three years in state prison concurrent with a state prison sentence from Schenectady County in connection with a previous guilty plea to felony third-degree attempted burglary in August in Clifton Park. In a separate incident, Young was also sentenced to 31⁄2 to seven years concurrent with the other sentences for a previous guilty plea for third-degree robbery in Clifton Park in July.

• Timothy Ippoliti, 31, of 900 Rock City Road, Milton, pleaded guilty March 22 to felony third-degree rape. The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office charged him in August in Milton. Sentencing is slated for May.