A former Bedford County volunteer fire chief, his wife and adult son were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the Hardy Volunteer Fire Company, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz.

Jeffrey Lee Shifflett, 51, who served as Hardy volunteer chief for close to 20 years, is charged with one count of forgery and 13 counts of embezzlement. He is accused of forging another fire department member's name to open a bank account, Krantz said.

His wife, Deborah Lynne Shifflett, faces 13 embezzlement charges, and his son, Cory Mitchell Shifflett, is charged with seven counts of embezzlement.

An exact dollar figure from charges was unavailable Tuesday, but Krantz said he estimates $150,000 to $200,000 is at issue -- some of which may have been used in a lump sum to purchase an automobile.

The Shifflett case prompted the Bedford County Board of Supervisors to pass a new fiscal accountability policy last month for departments such as Hardy fire company that receive county funding.

Based on a prior state police investigation, which included a search of Shifflett's home, the case that brought the charges and community reaction was built on such evidence as:

• The Hardy fire department had 11 Shell credit cards to use for buying gasoline for company vehicles. State police investigators discovered that three cards that are missing had been used by Jeffrey Shifflett and his family members to buy gas for personal vehicles.

• Shifflett used his fire company Visa card to buy several items, including a gun at the Vinton Pawn Shop, as well as clothing and other items from Gander Mountain, Sportsman's Warehouse and other stores. He also used checks and a debit card associated with one of the department's checking accounts to buy things at Wal-Mart and other businesses that had nothing to do with the department's needs.

• Shifflett used department money to make online purchases that had no connection to department business, and that he made frequent cash withdrawals of several hundred dollars from the department accounts.

• Checks for thousands of dollars were made out to Shifflett that in department records are listed as funds used for training. But there are no records that any member of the department, including Shifflett, received any training.

Krantz said warrants for the Shiffletts' arrests likely will be issued today or Thursday.

All 34 of charges against the Shiffletts are felonies, Krantz said. The embezzlement charges carry prison sentences of one to 20 years.

Jeffrey Shifflett was placed on administrative leave in late March when county officials learned he was the target of the state police investigation. In addition to serving as volunteer chief in Hardy, Shifflett served as a deputy fire marshal in the county.

Additional information about Deborah Shifflett and Cory Shifflett was unavailable Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Eric Shell, who was appointed acting chief of the fire company, has said the problems will not affect its service.

According to the company's bylaws, personnel had been appointed to keep track of the station's accounting, Shell has said. He would not clarify whether any discrepancies had been seen recently in the station's financial statements.

"We don't want the people in our community to think that our department as a whole is responsible for this," Shell said in a recent interview. "We want to work through the situation and hopefully move in the right direction for the better of the department."