Ex-county commissioner pleads guilty to theft from fair group

(The Center Square) – A former Ohio county commission admitted to racking up thousands of dollars worth of personal credit card charges in the name of a group that runs the county fair.

State Auditor Keith Faber said former Hocking County Commissioner Jessica Dicken pleaded guilty to two felony charges and one misdemeanor for misusing more than $19,000 in public funds while serving as secretary of the Hocking County Agricultural Society.

She pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft, one count of felony telecommunications fraud and a misdemeanor count of soliciting or accepting improper compensation. She agreed to make restitution and will be sentenced later.

The Hocking County Agricultural Society manages the Hocking County Fair in Logan, which begins the first Monday after Labor Day each year.

Dicken will pay $25,090.69 in restitution – $14,417.02 to the society, $4,667.17 to Vinton County National Bank and $6,006.05 to cover the society's audit costs.

The auditor’s office Special Investigation Unit began looking into Dicken in May 2023 after a complaint alleging she received cash payments for fair vendor spots without depositing them into the society’s bank account. Allegations also were made she made thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges on the society’s credit card.

Investigators found unauthorized charges for financing her 2022 county commissioner campaign, a rental car for a family vacation in Florida and retail items from Amazon, Walmart and Sam’s Club.

The investigation also showed she reported illegitimate disputed charges to the bank and listed some campaign-related purchases as in-kind contributions on her campaign finance reports.