Ohio AMVETS Post 61 of Hillsboro was awarded $142,778 for damages and attorney fees from Carla Smith during a civil hearing Thursday in the Highland County Court of Common Pleas.

The court previously granted a default judgement against Gary Smith, the post’s former commander, and Carla Smith, his wife, in March of 2023, but Gary Smith passed away in July of 2023 before the hearing to determine the amount of the damages.

The AMVETS dismissed the case against Gary Smith, and will be able to refile it against his estate.

The court determined that Gary and Carla Smith, while in charge of the bar, bingo and general operations accounts for the AMVETS Post on North Shore Drive, took a total of $108,644 from the bingo account in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The amount of the shortage in the bingo account was determined by an audit by the Ohio Attorney General’s Charitable Law Section which reviewed all of the invoices for tickets and games purchased from the vendor to determine what the gross receipts should have been and comparing that to the total deposits made by the Smiths.

Ohio law requires that 25 percent of the profits from a bingo account be given to charities. Carla Smith was listed as the custodian of bingo records.

The court also found that Carla Smith wrote 25 checks payable either to herself or to cash from the general fund account of the AMVETS Post. The amount of the theft stemming from those checks is $19,684.

She was also ordered to pay $14,450 in fees for the plaintiff’s attorney, Justin Dickman.

Carla Smith represented herself during the hearing and claimed not to remember any of the events related to the thefts because of strokes she has suffered.

Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.