Photo by Matt de Simone
By Matt de Simone
Khari Ryder, former executive director of the Botetourt County Chamber of Commerce, pleaded no contest Wednesday morning, August 27, in Botetourt Circuit Court to one felony count and two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement.
Ryder submitted a written plea and waived the formal reading of the charges. The plea was accepted by the Honorable Judge Joel Branscom.
The former Chamber director was originally charged with two felony counts of embezzlement and one misdemeanor. As part of the plea agreement, one of the felony charges was amended to a misdemeanor. Ryder was adjudicated guilty on all three counts – one felony and two misdemeanors – with the felony charge placed under advisement. If Ryder successfully completes two years of supervised probation and pays $5,000 in restitution during that time, the felony may be reduced to a misdemeanor.
He received two separate 12-month sentences for the misdemeanors, both of which were suspended. Had the case gone to trial and resulted in convictions, Ryder faced a potential combined sentence of up to 20 years for the felony and an additional two years for the misdemeanors.
The charges stemmed from a criminal investigation that found Ryder had improperly charged nearly $13,000 to the Chamber’s credit card between 2021 and August 2023. The expenses included personal cell phone and utility bills, a custom formal suit jacket, and costs related to a trip, including payments to a travel agent and an airline.
Following the hearing, Chamber Board President William Nelms issued a public statement on behalf of the organization, calling Ryder a “disgraced former executive director” and characterizing his actions as a “deliberate defrauding of the Chamber and its resources.”
“Mr. Ryder was entrusted with leading our Chamber and, instead, he chose to defraud the very organization he was meant to serve,” the statement read. “His actions were a betrayal of trust and a direct attack on the Chamber’s mission and the businesses that sustain it. This outcome makes clear that betrayal of trust has consequences.”
Nelms said that the wrongdoing was limited to the Chamber’s financial resources and that no member data was found to have been compromised during the investigation. He also noted that, as a result of the incident, the Chamber has implemented stronger financial oversight measures and internal safeguards.
“Today, the Chamber is operating in one of the healthiest and most stable positions in its 80-year history,” the statement continued. “With this chapter now closed, we are focused fully on the future – a future defined by transparency, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to the businesses and people of Botetourt County.”
In a separate interview last week, Nelms raised concerns about the formal jacket purchased by Ryder that was included in one of the embezzlement charges. The Chamber board president speculates that the suit jacket Ryder turned over to investigators was not the original one, and speculates that Ryder wore the original jacket – purchased with Chamber funds – during last Wednesday’s embezzlement hearing.
“That is a silly point of contention, and we are definitely planning to pursue that,” Nelms said. “Our biggest goal here is making sure there’s accountability and making sure that we can do all that we can as an organization to not only get the information out to the public about what [Ryder] did, but also to get some convictions to prevent him from being able to victimize other nonprofits. Mr. Ryder is a great talker. He’s really great at posturing and making people believe that he’s something he’s not.”
Ryder did not respond to a request for comment regarding the hearing or Nelms’s claims.
Had the case gone to trial, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Chad Simmons indicated last Wednesday that a key question would have been whether Ryder’s use of the Chamber’s credit card was intentional and improper. Ryder’s defense attorney, Ronnie Clay, said during the trial that he believed the defense had sufficient evidence to argue that the charges were unintentional and that Ryder had mistakenly used the wrong credit card in each instance.
When asked about the results last week, Simmons said the decision to take the felony charge under advisement was the result of a plea agreement that reflected the strengths and weaknesses of the case, as well as sentencing guidelines and Ryder’s lack of prior criminal history. If Ryder fails to meet the conditions set by the court, the felony charge could be reinstated, and sentencing imposed.
Simmons noted that such pleas are routinely accepted in courts and carry the same weight as guilty pleas. They indicate the defendant does not dispute the evidence and are generally viewed by the court as a form of accepting responsibility.
He added that, given the available evidence, applicable sentencing guidelines, and absence of any prior convictions, the Commonwealth considered the outcome to be an appropriate resolution.
