Jan 17, 2019 5 min read

Reputations of some who live in an Amwell Township community were shredded. Others said they received anonymous threats and demands to “stop this witch hunt.” Community support for two local institutions – the volunteer fire department and its auxiliary – dwindled.

That’s how a host of residents described the circumstances surrounding the depletion of the treasury of the Lone Pine Fire Department Auxiliary.

More than a year after her arrest for the theft of $23,696, there was a day of reckoning Tuesday in Washington County Court for Jody VanVarenberg, 59, who entered a guilty plea to the charge, a third-degree felony.

VanVarenberg was treasurer and president of the auxiliary, and when firefighters requested money to purchase needed equipment, auxiliary member Charlene McVay said VanVarenberg responded that “the old ladies voted against it.”

The request, however, had never been brought before the membership.

The missing money deprived the volunteers of firefighting equipment, which jeopardized not only those responding to calls, but the homes and businesses in the Lone Pine area, Mona Blumer, former auxiliary president, told the court.

When various people became suspicious of VanVarenberg in 2014 and asked for financial records, she evaded them, according to victim impact statements.

State police began investigating in May 2017, and a forensic audit preceded the filing of charges of theft and receiving stolen property against VanVarenberg in September of that year.

In terms of dollars and cents, Sue Manzo, an auxiliary member for about 15 years, presented the court with calculations.

“When we bake and sell pies, each slice is sold for $2. Each pie is cut into eight pieces. That $21,276.83 is equivalent to 1,330 pies. At today’s current minimum wage of $7.25, that $21.276.83 represents 2,935 hours.

“It has not been convenient for us to raise this money. I certainly hope your punishment for this crime will not be convenient for the accused,” Manzo told Judge Valarie Costanzo.

“For me, it has been like grieving the death of a loved one. I grieved not only for the loss of the money, but also the loss of some relationships I thought were friendships. How could I have been so mistaken?” Manzo asked.

Costanzo explained that the penalty for the plea had been negotiated by the district attorney’s office and VanVarenberg’s attorney, differentiating it from an “open plea” in which sentencing is solely the discretion of the judge.

The agreement called for VanVarenberg to spend five years in the Intermediate Punishment Program, beginning with 60 days of house arrest with electronic monitoring. She is to repay the full amount, including that owed to a local insurance agency, plus fees and costs. She will not be eligible for early termination from the program, said Assistant District Attorney Nathan Michaux.

Costanzo also forbade VanVarenberg from having contact with the auxiliary or the fire department, and thanked volunteer firefighters for what they do for their communities.

“All you needed to do if you were in need was to ask,” wrote auxiliary charter member Sue Mega in a statement read to the court by Christina Rugg-Signor. “We are a loving and forgiving community, but not now. Our trust is gone.”

Wayne Montgomery, president of Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department, told the judge, “It’s been hard to regain that total trust again.”

“Our motto is ‘neighbors helping neighbors,'” said Anne Reeves, a former firefighter whose father was one of the founding members of the department.

VanVarenberg stood and cried as those victimized addressed the judge. Her attorney, Veronica Brestensky, noted that her client appeared without family members in court Wednesday.

Blumer pointed out that Amwell Township has no millage devoted exclusively to fire protection, and the auxiliary’s purpose is to raise money for the fire department.

Theft from the account, according to information brought out in court, left the auxiliary with a balance of just $155.

“She used her position in our organization and the fact that she was the chief’s wife to manipulate every situation to benefit her,” Blumer said. “We now know she was covering the fact that there was no money in the account. At one meeting she yelled and ranted in her mean, hateful way until one of our oldest and dearest members was in tears. Things got so bad that people just stopped coming around.”

Attorney Peter Marcoline III, who was retained to represent the victims, said they were seeking closure, so they were willing to accept the plea and sentence.

Brestensky said VanVarenberg was remorseful, but that she was advised not to have contact with the victims, which may have created some confusion.

“It was not a purely greed-driven endeavor,” Brestensky told the court, noting that VanVarenberg hoped she would be able to repay the missing money.

VanVarenberg’s son is autistic, and he suffers from epilepsy and Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition.

“My family has not done anything, and they have suffered,” VanVarenberg told the judge and apologized.

“I can’t tell them how bad I feel,” she said. “There are not words to say.”