RICHLAND – 71 year-old Ronald D. Weis of Richland is being charged with first-degree theft for stealing $78,573 over four checks allocated for the Treasury Rent Assistance Program. The program was designed to provide aid to those who lost income due to COVID-19. The assistance provided would then decrease evictions caused by the pandemic.
Weis claimed to be the manager of a rental property requiring the assistance. The Benton-Franklin Counties Department of Human Services issued the checks, with applications on file from someone claiming to be Weis’s tenant behind on rent.
During interviews with investigators early in Jan., he admitted that he cashed the checks while not really being a property manager. Weis pleaded not guilty at his pretrial hearing on Monday, Jan. 24.
Weis’s charge includes aggravating circumstances, suggesting the crime required planning and had a greater loss than general theft. He has been in Benton County jail on $7,500 bail since Jan. 13. His trial is scheduled for March 14.
