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LISBON -- Another status hearing has been set for 1:15 p.m. Dec. 17 in the case against Amanda M. Kiger and River Valley Organizing for the alleged theft of charitable donations as both sides continue to negotiate.
"We are moving towards a resolution of this matter," Kiger's defense attorney, T. Robert Bricker said Thursday.
Bricker and Associate Assistant Attorney General H. Lee Crumrine, who works for the Ohio Attorney General's office and is representing the state, spoke briefly with Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam prior to the hearing on the record.
The jury trial remains set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 16.
Kiger, 53, Center Street, East Liverpool, appeared with her attorney and signed two time waivers, one for herself and one on behalf of the nonprofit she had served as executive director. She remains out of jail on a $100,000 recognizance bond.
She was indicted for multiple charges related to theft while in the position of executive director of the former River Valley Organizing and related to her alleged theft of unemployment benefits and alleged failure to file state income tax returns during the same period.
The charges against Kiger include third-degree felony aggravated theft, second-degree felony telecommunications fraud, four counts of fifth-degree felony filing incomplete, false and fraudulent returns, fourth-degree felonies of grand theft and falsification in a theft offense and third-degree felony telecommunications fraud.
The indictment against River Valley Organizing, in care of Kiger, included one count of aggravated theft, a third-degree felony, and one count of telecommunications fraud, a second-degree felony.
According to the indictments, the thefts occurred from Feb. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2024, when Kiger solicited and accepted contributions of funds from various donors to River Valley Organizing for charitable purposes and "misused such funds for personal purposes and her own financial benefit." The amount was listed from $150,000 to less than $750,000.
The charge for telecommunications fraud said she misused the funds for personal purposes and her own financial benefit "through a series of financial transactions and transfers completed via telecommunications networks." The value of the benefit obtained was listed as $150,000 or more but less than $1 million.
Regarding the other charges against Kiger, she allegedly obtained $17,346 in unemployment benefits from the state by making false statements to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in her application and claims for unemployment benefits from April 2, 2021 through May 12, 2022. She allegedly failed to file annual state income tax returns in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Earlier this week, she appeared in Columbiana County Municipal Court where she's charged with six counts of failure to file city income tax return for allegedly failing to file East Liverpool city income tax returns from 2021 through 2026. A pretrial in that case is set for Jan. 5.