COLUMBUS – Former Meigs County Sheriff Keith Wood pleaded guilty Thursday to withdrawing public funds for his personal use, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

Wood pleaded guilty to a single felony count of theft in office and, as part of a plea deal, was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and three years of community control and ordered to make restitution totaling $5,000, which included the money that was stolen and audit costs.

Violating the terms of his sentence could lead to up to 12 months in jail, and Wood is barred from serving in public office.

The Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began its investigation of Wood in August 2022, after receiving a complaint from Meigs County Prosecutor James Stanley about the potential misuse of money from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.

SIU confirmed that Wood used ATMs to withdraw cash from the fund at different locations in Ohio and West Virginia.

Wood submitted his guilty plea and was sentenced during a hearing in Meigs County Common Pleas Court Thursday afternoon.

Since 2019, the Special Investigations Unit has assisted in 117 convictions resulting in more than $8.2 million in restitution (see Map of SIU Convictions since January 2019). The team receives hundreds of tips of suspected fraud annually. Tips can be submitted anonymously online or via SIU’s fraud hotline at 866-FRAUD-OH (866-372-8364).

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates, and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.

Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov