She stole money from Sumner food bank, but she won’t go to jail. Here’s her sentence
The former director of Sumner Community Food Bank will have to pay back her former employer nearly $8,000 for funds she stole in 2020, a Pierce County judge has ruled.
Tiffany Rhyner, 29, was accused in November of stealing more than $7,700 by forging checks and pocketing cash donations over the course of six months.
She pleaded guilty last week to one count of forgery.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Andrews handed Rhyner her sentence for forgery Feb. 15: $7,882.63 in restitution to be paid to the Sumner food bank and no time in jail.
The sentence was within the standard range for such cases, zero to 60 days in jail. The maximum possible sentence is 5 years.
Rhyner had been charged with first-degree theft and two counts of forgery. According to sentencing documents, Rhyner will pay restitution for her theft charge, which was dismissed.
In her guilty plea, Rhyner admitted to forging one check for a Costco delivery for $2,293.81 worth of items.
When prosecutors first charged Rhyner in November, they wrote in the declaration for determination of probable cause that she admitted to police she deposited two checks to her bank account, each in the amount of about $2,500.
For the first check, prosecutors said Rhyner convinced the food bank’s treasurer to sign it, telling her she needed to buy food at Costco for a backpack program as part of a partnership with the Bonney Lake food bank, according to the probable cause statement.
The backpack program aimed to provide food to hungry kids in Sumner and Bonney Lake school districts during the summer, according to a Facebook post announcing the partnership.
Prosecutors said Rhyner canceled the order and wrote her own name as the payee on the check. She used a similar method to forge the second check for a Costco order.
Most of the money taken was used to pay rent and buy groceries, she told police. According to the probable cause statement, Rhyner said her husband lost his job, and she was concerned they would lose their home.
Rhyner was named executive director in March 2019 following the retirement of Anita Miller. Before then, she worked in various leadership positions at the Salvation Army Food Bank in Puyallup, according to a Facebook post announcing her appointment.
The Sumner food bank terminated Rhyner in August 2020, chairperson John Rader told The News Tribune in November.
Rhyner also was accused of pocketing more than $2,800 worth of cash donations from REI, which made the food bank its charity of the month in March and August 2020. She denied taking the donations and told police she gave the money to an administrative assistant. That person later told police he never received the funds from her.
