Ex-Food Network competitor gets diversion program for theft

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – A Mississippi chef who competed on two Food Network shows and admitted to embezzling $10,000 from a former employer has been ordered into a three-year pre-trial diversion program.

The Sun Herald of Biloxi reports the sentence means 47-year-old Stacie Meehan Vande Wetering could avoid a felony record if she complies with the program’s requirements, which include drug and alcohol testing.

Vande Wetering previously competed on the Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games” and “Beat Bobby Flay” shows.

Vande Wetering admitted to the embezzlement while in court last week, saying she “misused funds” in her role at a local yacht club. She was also ordered last week to pay back the roughly $10,300 in embezzled funds.

___

Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com