The commander of the American Legion Home Association 984 was arrested Tuesday on theft charges, according to police.
Joell Stewart, 49, is accused of stealing $25,391.89 from the American Legion. He allegedly failed to make deposits, made unauthorized withdraws and used a credit/debit card — issued to him for business related purchases — to purchase a hotel room in Ocean City, Maryland.
A representative of the American Legion reported the theft on July 1. That same day, the representative confronted Stewart about it, in which he reportedly said he had fallen on hard times and needed the money, charging documents say.
According to charging documents, Stewart promised to pay the money back but no repayments were made.
Stewart faces charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, access device fraud, and misapplication of entrusted property and property of government or financial institutions, court documents show.
This story has been updated from its previous version.
