Former Blacksburg booster club treasurer pleads guilty to wire fraud

Ricky Wayne Hayter was accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the Blacksburg High School Athletic Foundation.

Ricky Hayter

Jeff Sturgeon | 981-3251

Friday, August 9, 2013

The former treasurer of Blacksburg High School’s athletic booster club, who was accused of stealing more than $300,000 of club money, pleaded guilty Thursday to a single count of wire fraud.

Ricky Wayne Hayter, who first fell under the suspicion of club members last summer, is free on bond pending a Nov. 12 sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

The Blacksburg High School Athletic Club, formerly the Blacksburg High School Athletic Foundation, is a nonprofit organization, separate from the school system, that was set up years ago to support athletic teams and athletic facilities. Hayter, who volunteered with the club, assisted with a fundraiser, “Lend a Hand for the Stands,” that raised more than $700,000 for projects such as a new field house and artificial turf for the football field, according to an indictment filed against Hayter in March.

Hayter served as the club’s treasurer and was responsible for managing foundation bank accounts. While about $350,000 from the “Hands for the Stands” campaign went toward building the field house, much of the remaining money wound up in Hayter’s hands, the indictment said.

Between January 2008 and June 2012, when he was replaced by a newly elected treasurer, Hayter covertly transferred $301,500 in booster club funds to an online investment account he opened in the club’s name, the indictment said.

Hayter traded the money and lost most of it, the indictment said. In addition, he used the trading account to write $50,000 worth of checks to himself and make payments to his personal credit card, which he used to buy items for himself and his family, the indictment said.

A grand jury charged Hayter with 10 counts of wire fraud after an investigation by the Virginia State Police and the U.S. Secret Service. Hayter pleaded guilty to one count related to a $3,000 transfer of booster club funds to his credit card.

However, the judge can consider all wrongdoing described in the indictment in fashioning a potential prison sentence and restitution order, said Brian McGinn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.

Lynn Everett, president of the club, said organization leaders who were elected in June 2012 restructured after Hayter left to empower a committee of five people to make financial decisions. In addition, the finance committee now transfers money to the school and lets the school decide how to spend it, she said.

Everett declined to comment on whether the organization expects to recover its money, but said the athletic club is moving forward. “We’ve continued on. We have our organization going,” she said.

Monday, August 12, 2013