NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) - Prosecutors dropped charges against a New Hampshire couple accused of receiving $12,000 in stolen funds from a Hanover nonprofit for military veterans.
The Valley News reports Sarah Healey Donahue and Alexander Donahue faced charges of receiving stolen property. Prosecutors said they accepted two checks from Alexander Donahue’s mother, Danielle Goodwin, for a house and went on trial last year. A jury acquitted Alexander Donohue of one count and was hung on others last year.
Prosecutors said Goodwin gave contradictory testimony. She had pleaded guilty in 2018 to taking nearly $100,000 from Project Vetcare, which she co-founded. A judge recently agreed to impose nine months of a previously suspended jail sentence against her.
Prosecutors said Goodwin told police she instructed Sarah Donahue to write the checks from Project Vetcare and that she knew the money wasn’t hers to give. Later, in a prison phone call, Goodwin said “any mother worth half her weight would fall on her sword all day long.” She testified the money was hers to give because Project Vetcare owed her money.
The jury “was deeply split as to whom to hold responsible for the crimes,” prosecutor Marcie Hornick said.
The Donohues’ attorneys said they were happy with the outcome.
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