Abrana Marie's owner waives 132 misdemeanor charges

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Jan. 4—The owner of the Abrana Marie's restaurants in Lewisburg and Sunbury waived her right to preliminary hearings in Union and Northumberland counties on Thursday.

The 132 combined misdemeanor counts against Doreen M. Hedricks, 64, of Queen Street, Northumberland, will move forward in the Union and Northumberland county courts. She was scheduled for preliminary hearings in front of Lewisburg District Judge Jeffrey Rowe on Thursday and Sunbury District Judge Rachel Weist Benner on Jan. 16, but waived them both on Thursday, according to court documents.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Revenue alleges that Hedricks used at least $84,000 in sales and employer withholding taxes to keep her businesses afloat. Between October 2018 and December 2022, Hedricks allegedly collected sales tax and withheld employer withholding tax, and treated it as her own, and failed to make the required payment or disposition. She also allegedly failed to file sales tax returns and employer withholding tax returns in a timely fashion between 2020 and 2023, according to court documents filed in October.

Hedricks, whose restaurant is located at 48 N. Second St., Lewisburg, was charged in total with 99 counts of theft by failure to make required dispositions of funds, 29 counts of failure to remit sales tax/file returns and four counts of willful failure to timely file employer withholding tax returns. Some of the charges were from the Sunbury restaurant, Abrana Marie's Taco Queen, at 901 S. Second St., Sunbury, which closed permanently on Sept. 2.

The charges were filed in both Union and Northumberland counties by Supervisory Special Agent Christopher Weaver, of the Office of Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Hedricks was also released on her own recognizance following a bail hearing on Thursday morning in front of Benner. No new court dates are set at this time.

Hedricks is represented by attorney Gregory Stuck of Northumberland.