JANET KELLY
Staff Writer, Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) via Lexis Nexis

The president of Rawlinsville Fire Company called the woman a "wolf in sheep's clothing.''

Vicki Ann Messier, when she was the company's treasurer, attended social functions and prayed for members' families, he said, convincing them she was a "God-fearing person.''

But all the while Messier was forging documents, falsifying reports and stealing more than $192,000 from the fire company during a six-year period, Charles Grimasuckas, the fire company president, told Lancaster County Court Judge Dennis Reinaker on Thursday.

Messier, 35, of New Providence, stood before the judge for sentencing and turned to apologize to the fire company members and the community.

"I'm truly sorry for what I have done,'' Messier said, adding that she wants to "work as much as possible'' to repay the stolen funds.

Messier told Reinaker that she stole the money in an effort to pay her family's debts and save her failing marriage.

But Reinaker noted that the credit card bills Messier was paying included the purchases of a pickup truck and a boat.

"This was nothing more than greed,'' Reinaker told the woman, sentencing her to 1 to 2 years in Lancaster County Prison.

Reinaker also imposed 12 consecutive years' probation to repay the stolen funds.

What she won't be able to fix, Reinaker said, is the damage she caused to the fire company's reputation in the community.

Grimasuckas told Reinaker that the theft of funds caused a rift in the fire company and the community.

The company lost members. It lost financial support from the community, Grimasuckas said, and he and the other officers endured a public scolding at municipal meetings.

"People said we could no longer be trusted,'' Grimasuckas said, even though fire company officials assured them the money was insured and that they had changed the way money is managed in the fire company.

"We're still attempting to heal the wounds,'' Grimasuckas told the judge.

"This was not a lapse, not a mistake,'' Grimasuckas said, telling the judge that Messier made a conscious choice to break the law every time she forged his name.

"The only reason it stopped,'' he said, "was because she was caught.''

Assistant District Attorney Charles Rieck IV agreed, saying the facts are typical in such cases when the defendant is a trusted member of an organization.

"They have to be,'' Rieck said, "or they wouldn't be given the position of trust.''

During the six years the money was being stolen, Rieck said, Messier "didn't have a crisis of conscience" and go to authorities.

The problem came to light when vendors started complaining that bills were not being paid.

Fire company officials became suspicious and contacted an accountant and state police Cpl. John Duby.

Defense attorney Joshua Bodene said his client admits taking the money and forging the checks and wants to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

The crime stemmed from "an inappropriate desire to save her marriage, please her husband and hide debt.''

Messier said she checked herself into a hospital in July 2009 because she was suicidal.

Messier also told the judge that she has given custody of her three children to her now ex-husband so that she could work longer hours.

She has already collected more than $40,000 toward restitution, Bodene said, and is committed to repaying the rest.

Messier stole the money between 2003 and 2009 from four different bank accounts belonging to the fire company.

The fire company is funded through donations from residents, fundraisers and contributions from the four municipalities it serves - Martic, Providence, Drumore and East Drumore townships. It also receives state funds.

Copyright 2010 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.