A Lancaster County, PA puppy mill
Donald Hostetter, 71, of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $60,00 from the group, United Against Puppy Mills (UAPM) on Wednesday, September 30th.
Hostetter is the former treasurer of UAPM that operates out of Lancaster County.
County prosecutors say the money was embezzled from UAPM in 2013 and 2014.
Hostetter claims he stole the money he lost in a sweepstakes scam. He told investigators he sent thousands of dollars to pay fees and taxes to an unknown caller who told him he owed in order to collect the prize. He used the stolen money to cover his losses from the scam.
A sentencing date will be given after a pre-sentencing investigation is completed. Hostetter will have to repay the money as part of his sentence.
United Against Puppy Mills, an all-volunteer 501(c )3 non-profit group whose mission is to promote awareness, provide training and support of people interested in eliminating puppy mills as they currently exist. UAPM has not been involved in any events since October 2014 according to their website.
As part of his sentence, Hostetter will have to repay the stolen money to UAPM.
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Despicable. He gets scammed due to his own ignorance and then scams an organization he worked for. Don’t people know not to ever pay for a “prize” they’ve won. Taking that much money from such a small group is despicable.
Why didn’t this group keep closer tabs on this man. Anyone who handles money in an organization needs to be monitored for this exact reason. It’s a small group so it couldn’t have been that hard to do. In spite of that, I find it reprehensible that someone could steal from an animal welfare organization. How is he going to repay it since he’s the one who needed the money in the first place after he found himself scammed out of money. It’s supposed to be paid back but we know how OJ Simpson never gave the millions to the Goldman’s and Brown’s after was found guilty and told to do so. He never paid one cent. No one has forced him either.
What does uapm even do?