Records detail $60K missing from Expoland

Records filed this week in Augusta County Circuit Court shed new light on an inmate labor misuse case and more than $60,000 that went missing from Augusta Expoland.

The foot-high stack of records paint a picture of growing concern as Expo officials uncovered a gaping financial hole.

“I want to emphasize to the Board and to the Expo Staff that I feel we have a major financial problem and must turn it around,” wrote Jerry Pence, Expo board chairman, in a 2010 email to staff.

Six months later, Augusta County deputies arrested Woody E. Puckett, 47, and Joannis M. Hoard, 46, both of Stuarts Draft, on charges they embezzled money and inmate labor.

At the time of Pence’s April email, the pair had been cheating Expo for at least a year, authorities charge.

An investigation found the pair used Middle River Regional Jail inmates on work release at least five times to complete projects at their homes, authorities said. At least once, the inmates drew straws to “see who would stay at Expo and who would go to Woody’s house to ‘work,’ ” an Expo employee wrote in a letter to authorities.

The employee wrote that one inmate confided to her what he and fellow inmates did during their time at Puckett’s house.

“He told me they mowed the lawn, and watched a football game, took showers and relaxed,” the employee wrote.

No long with Expo, Hoard had worked as a manager, writing checks and approving reimbursements. Puckett served as a facility supervisor. Both received raises within the past two years, records show.

Stacks of receipts from Lowes, auction houses and other businesses show Puckett racked up $32,405 in purchases that authorities and Expo staff questioned.

Those purchases were listed in the court file under headings like, “Item not at Expo,” missing receipts and “Expo has no need for.”

Each receipt was accompanied by an Expo reimbursement check, signed by Hoard, who reimbursed herself for $2,472, records show.

Unauthorized purchases included a chainsaw, at least nine trips to Lexington, rotating dust pans and 20-inch wiper blades. The documents lay out a paper trail of money spent on men’s shorts, fireplace pokers, a cabinet and a ride-on-floor scrubber.

In one email from an auction house, Puckett was thanked for his purchase of 12 bar stools and an iced tea brewer.

Records list an additional $25,600 in purchases as miscellaneous unauthorized expenses.

In his April 2010 email, Pence tightened Expo’s purse strings and mandated all expenditures greater than $1,000 get prior approval. The chairman also tightened overtime pay and asked for more volunteer hours.

On Friday, Pence said he’s hired a new manager.

“We probably are in as good a shape as we have been in awhile,” he said. “We’ve actually paid back money toward an open line of credit.”

Pence declined to comment about the case.

Hoard is scheduled to appear in Augusta County Circuit Court for a jury trial June 2 and Puckett on June 8.

The defendants and attorney Thomas Weidner IV could not be reached.