Photo by Janelle Patterson Tara Hupp, left, speaks with her attorney George Cosenza, right, in Washington County Common Pleas Court Thursday.

MARIETTA — The former Washington County Board of Elections director will spend the next 17 months behind bars.

Tara Hupp, 55, of 5250 State Route 26, Marietta, was sentenced by visiting Judge Linton Lewis Thursday in Washington County Common Pleas Court.

The maximum she faced was 18 months incarceration.

Lewis gave Hupp just shy of that maximum sentence and ordered just shy of the maximum restitution amount, $149,000, negating an automatic appeal. He also made no mention of an early judicial release during the hearing.

Hupp made no statement prior to sentencing opting instead for submitting a written letter as her allocution.

The letter was not read in court.

But Thursday’s sentence was not the end of the fight to hold Hupp accountable for all she stole from the Marietta High School Athletic Boosters.

Hupp had previously pleaded down to lesser criminal charges from the original indictment in which she was charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony, accusing her of stealing between $150,000 and $750,000. She pleaded to theft, a fourth-degree felony, admitting to only the $155,000 she has already paid the nonprofit organization back.

Civil attorney Ethan Vessels said despite the sentence, the restitution is not enough, and he is representing the boosters in a civil action going after the rest, plus punitive damages.

“We’re trying to recover every bit of it,” said Vessels. “The criminal restitution was an agreed upon amount with the prosecution, the boosters never agreed to that amount. That’s not how much she stole.”

Vessels said records show Hupp stole at least $305,000.

“But we think it’s closer to $600,000,” he added.

Vessels said what’s next involves the control of financial and real estate assets owned by both Tara and her husband Michael.

He detailed:

* The temporary restraining order was granted Sept. 24 and dissolves Oct. 8.

“It means neither she, nor her husband can transfer any financial assets or real estate, or any personal property. All of their assets are frozen,” Vessels explained. “We’re going have a status conference very soon with the judge.”

* Then Judge Lewis was also assigned to the civil case and has the option to extend that TPO another two weeks.

* In that time, a preliminary injunction hearing may be held to freeze all assets of the Hupps until the case is resolved.

* Then a civil trial date would be set.

“My purpose as a civil lawyer, I do not care about criminal fault,” Vessels explained. “To be found to have been unjustly enriched doesn’t require moral fault, (Tara Hupp) could have walked in one door and put $10,000 in the back pocket of her husband and he could have not known about it until he reached in his back pocket and found the money. But they didn’t earn it; he was unjustly enriched by her theft.”

Special Prosecutor Tom Webster said prior to sentencing that Hupp used the stolen funds for her own personal purposes.

Vessel’s civil case alleges the money was invested in a storage facility in Newport Township.

“According to the Washington County auditor, this property has a value of $344,970,” reads Vessels’ filing.

Webster noted multiple checks made out to cash by Hupp during his statement in court Thursday, asking the court to not believe the thefts were isolated incidents from 2015 and 2016.

He listed a $9,700 check and a $7,200 check with Hupp’s signatures from 2008 and followed shortly thereafter by large deposits in her accounts.

“This is not a short-term theft, this is a long-term theft problem,” he said. “What about the true victims in this case? The seven years of Marietta High School athletes’ loss of better and safer equipment.”

He added that the trust and hard work of volunteers at fundraisers like the lemon shake stands at festivals and fairs, and the work put into events like the Black and Orange dinner were disrespected by Hupp’s dishonesty.

“The defendant’s answers were always couched in the terms of ‘you can trust me’… therein lies the problem,” he said.

Mark Weihl, who served on the booster board from August 2016 until his term ended in May, also addressed the court and noted following the hearing that trust in fundraising is one of the main concerns coming out of the ordeal.

“Redemption and accountability and the impact it had on our community as a whole,” Weihl said. “There’s some impact on the local community members, the business community, our student-athletes.”

While he wouldn’t comment on the sentence itself, he noted the restitution funds ordered could provide safer, and more up-to-date equipment.

“There can be an awful lot of good done for these kids for those funds,” he noted. “At this point, it’s about what’s in the best long-term interest of these athletes. In my opinion, if you look at the 20-plus varsity sports at Marietta High School $150,000 can do a lot of long-term good for those kids.”

Weihl also commended the changes in policies and practices of the booster board since Hupp’s thefts came to light.

“It oftentimes takes a bad experience to get you where you need to be, but I will commend the boosters for meeting this head on and making the appropriate changes which are how they now operate in being fiscally responsible,” he said. “The controls are in place, the bylaw governance is in place, the monthly audits are in place, the review through the school system is in place. The system as a whole is in better shape today.”