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STATE COLLEGE — The former secretary of a rural Pennsylvania township has admitted to treating public money like a slush fund for sports betting and personal purchases.
Pamela Hackenburg, 56, of Union County, pleaded guilty Monday to three felony charges of theft, identity theft, and access device fraud.
One felony charge of receiving stolen property was dropped, Centre County Deputy District Attorney Crystal Hundt, who is prosecuting the case, told Spotlight PA.
Hackenburg stole almost $533,000 from Gregg Township’s coffers, beginning just a few months after she became the township secretary and treasurer in 2019. Township officials suspended her without pay in May 2024 when they discovered the scheme, and fired her after State Police announced charges last November.
Hackenburg entered an open guilty plea, which means the sentencing will be “totally up to the court,” Hundt said. She added that she will ask the court to order Hackenburg to make full restitution to the township.
Gregg Township Supervisors Ben Haupt, Carol Gingrich, and Vicky Vanada did not respond to requests for comment from Spotlight PA.
Hackenburg was originally scheduled to plead guilty in June. Instead, her attorney, Helen Stolinas, said at the time they wanted to proceed with a trial. Stolinas has not returned a request for comment by Spotlight PA.
Sentencing for Hackenburg is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. before Centre County Judge Katherine V. Oliver.
For more than a year, residents have waited for the criminal proceeding to take its course. They brought questions regarding the case to nearly every public meeting.
Hairstylist Tory Ballenger-Snyder operated a salon in the Old Gregg School building, where the municipal office is also located. Among the funds stolen by Hackenburg was rent Ballenger-Snyder paid the township, she said.
Gregg Township has filed a claim with its insurer to recoup the stolen money. Although Ballenger-Snyder is not liable for the stolen rent payment, she said the former secretary’s guilty plea gave the community some accountability.
“I can give grace, and I can forgive her,” she told Spotlight PA. “But good grief, this is half a million dollars we are talking about.”
The bulk of Hackenburg’s theft was perpetrated using township credit cards that she paid off with taxpayer money, Spotlight PA previously reported.
Hackenburg was the only person to have password access to the township’s First National Bank accounts, and bank statements were normally mailed to her, a State Police investigator found.
Records obtained by Spotlight PA showed transactions on DraftKings, a sports betting platform, totaled $322,185. Money spent via Venmo reached $149,335.25. Other personal purchases, like spending at restaurants, resorts, clothing stores, and more, climbed to $48,893.42.
By the time Gregg Township sent outside accountants to clean out her locked office, it was a complete “mess,” with piles of papers and uncashed checks strewn everywhere, according to a charging document.
Police said Hackenburg used multiple Gregg Township funds, including a restricted road project loan of $500,000, to pay off the enormous balances.
Township supervisors were never more than one look at credit card statements away from discovering the unauthorized spending. Suspicion was raised only when one of those statements was accidentally sent to another employee.
Township oversight has tightened since the theft was discovered, Supervisor Ben Haupt told the public at a December meeting. Among other things, supervisors now review bank statements regularly, he said, and an annual background check for supervisors and the secretary is in place.
The township is awaiting a decision by its insurer regarding how much of the losses its bond policy would cover. In an early June court filing related to a public records request from Spotlight PA, the township said it estimated a decision would come within 60 days.
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