NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The former treasurer of a local nonprofit was convicted in Norfolk Circuit Court on charges related to stealing money from the organization after he failed to pay any of it back.

Christopher Bernhardt, 45, was accused of embezzling $27,000 from the organization, which the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office declined to name, at their request.

Friday, he was found guilty of felony embezzlement, issuing bad checks and failure to appear. The last charge is related to the preliminary hearing in the case, which Bernhard failed to show for.

A judge accepted a plea deal between the prosecutor and Bernhardt in August 2024, and took the case under advisement. The terms of the agreement required Bernhardt to make payments to the organization over the next six months.

A review hearing Friday revealed that Bernhardt hadn’t made any of those payments, which resulted in his conviction on the felony charges.

“Mr. Bernhardt abused his position of trust to steal a significant amount of money from a nonprofit organization,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “He richly deserved a felony conviction up front, and we offered him a plea agreement only in hopes that its incentives would push Mr. Bernhardt to close the hole he had blown in the finances of the nonprofit about which he purported to care. Mr. Bernhardt failed to make his amends, and he will now sit in jail awaiting sentencing for the felony he has earned. A crime does not need to be violent to be serious, and we will continue to prosecute people who victimize our local institutions and the people they serve.”

He will be sentenced May 2.