UPDATE (1/3/23): The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of Petit Larceny (Class "A" misdemeanor) on December 6, 2022. She was sentenced to a one-year condition discharge. As part of her sentence, the defendant was ordered that she cannot hold a volunteer position that involves other people's money for one year.

ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE (10/3/2022)

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 43-year-old Colleen Wheeler of Town of Hamburg was arraigned on Friday morning before Hamburg Town Court Justice Gerald P. Gorman on one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class “D” felony).

It is alleged that between April 2019 and March 2022, the defendant, while working as the manager of the Hamburg Hawks youth hockey team, stole approximately $6,000 from the organization. The defendant allegedly stole the money by making a series of unauthorized transactions from the team’s bank account and failing to pay for her own child’s hockey team fees.

Wheeler is scheduled to return on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. for a felony hearing. She was released on her own recognizance as the charge is a non-qualifying offense for bail.

If convicted of the charge, Wheeler faces a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.

DA Flynn commends Detective Howard Widman of the Town of Hamburg Police Department for his work in this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Jurusik of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit.  

As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.