Former Williamson Mayor Charlie Hatfield was CEO of Williamson Memorial Hospital in Mingo County, W.Va., from 2018-2019. (Google Maps screenshot)
Former Williamson Mayor Charlie Hatfield will serve five years of federal probation on charges of theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds for actions taken during his time as CEO of Williamson Memorial Hospital, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to the probation, Hatfield was ordered to repay the $34,872.62 he stole from the hospital for personal use and also pay a $20,000 fine for the crimes. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence.
Hatfield pleaded guilty to the federal charges in May. He faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for the crimes.
Hatfield served as the rural hospital’s interim CEO for one year, from September 2018 to 2019. He was first elected as Williamson, West Virginia’s mayor in 2017. According to local media reports, he voluntarily resigned from that position earlier this month in light of the upcoming federal charges and a probe by the FBI.
According to court filings, Williamson Memorial Hospital received thousands of dollars in federal funds in both 2018 and 2019 while Hatfield was serving as CEO.
In May 2019, Hatfield used more than $9,000 of hospital funds to purchase a cashier’s check, which he then sent to a man in Florida to pay off debts from a personal lawsuit, real estate taxes and property fees on a condominium he owned there. In September 2019, Hatfield directed nearly $26,000 from the hospital’s accounts to Mid Mountain Properties, a real estate firm he has owned and operated since 2001, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Hatfield admitted to investigators, according to a news release, that he told his then-business partners about using the hospital funds “to pay a personal obligation.” He also admitted that he never requested authorization from the hospital’s board to direct the funds to his own endeavors.
Nearly a month after that second transfer, on Oct. 21, 2019, the owners of Williamson Memorial Hospital filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
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