After a two-day trial, a Rappahannock County Circuit Court jury took less than 30 minutes last Friday to find Robbie Lee Critzer of Washington not guilty of embezzling funds from Williams Tree Service and its owner, Gregory T. Williams.
The jury, composed of seven women and five men, deliberated on a single count of embezzlement after Judge Dennis L. Hupp struck five other embezzlement charges as the trial unfolded. Two additional embezzlement counts had been “nolle prossed,” meaning not prosecuted at this time, before the trial began.
“My view is that no reasonable juror could find [Critzer] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt … it was a mess, it was a sloppy business operation,” said Hupp, telling the jury why he struck the five other embezzlement charges. “And based on your verdict … I think you all agree.”
Critzer was originally charged with embezzling more than $300,000. By the time the other charges were dropped, the sole charge before the jury was embezzlement of $60,000 in funds tied to a portion of a $94,000 inheritance check Williams received after his father’s death, according to the prosecution.
“First, I want to thank God: he answered my prayers for truth and justice,” Critzer wrote in a statement to the Rappahannock News last Saturday. She went on to thank her family, friends, her defense attorney, Joseph Pricone, and the attorney representing her in connection with Williams’ bankruptcy petition, David Konick. “This ordeal has consumed my life for the last several years.”
What prosecution, defense claim
The prosecution claimed Critzer, 50, embezzled cash and checks over several years while working as store manager at Williams Tree Service in Amissville. Special prosecutor Eric Olsen of Stafford County — who was brought in after Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff recused himself from the case — said Critzer had been “skimming cash off the top,” writing fraudulent checks to herself and falsely claiming she was owed for loans already repaid. He contended that she manipulated Williams, and kept “loosy-goosy accounting logs thinking she could get away with it.”
From the witness stand, Williams, 50, testified that his personal and romantic relationship with Critzer led him to trust her with his business finances, including adding her to one of his checking accounts. He said he was largely hands-off with bookkeeping duties.
“I’m not a numbers person,” Williams testified.
“He was not a businessman,” Olsen told the jury. “So he hired individuals to help with that, and Robbie Critzer was one of those people … he trusted her.”
“A lot of cash came in and out of that business and none of it was deposited,” Olsen said.
Robbie Critzer standing outside of Williams Tree Service when she was store manager. (File photo/Ike Parrish)
The defense countered with testimony from multiple witnesses and over 350 documents and exhibits, and said Critzer had actually put more of her own money into the business than she was paid back, and is still owed over $30,000. Critzer often used her personal debit card for business purchases, she testified, because Williams did not have a company card. She also made loans to the business.
“There was no cash to steal,” Pricone said.
Pricone argued that Critzer was never a “bookkeeper” as the prosecution claimed, and when writing checks to reimburse herself from the joint bank account, she was only acting in line with a personal agreement made with Williams.
Critzer testified Williams told her multiple times, as well as in a text message read in court: “You are welcome to every penny that comes in and out of this place … and never hear me complain.”
About half a dozen witnesses for both the defense and prosecution described Williams’ company’s finances as a “mess,” both before and during Critzer’s employment. Multiple testimonies from past employees indicated the business at one point owed more than $500,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and vendors often refused checks because they “would bounce.”
“He owed everyone … it was really bad,” Critzer testified. “[He] didn’t want to put the money into the bank and the IRS take it out.”
Williams did not dispute the picture painted of the financial situation of the business, and said he did not keep close tabs on the money side of its operations.
Williams Tree Service filed for Chapter 11 reorganizational bankruptcy in August 2025, listing 17 creditors, according to a filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Harrisonburg. Critzer later filed a complaint seeking to be added to that list, claiming about $100,000 in unpaid wages, personal funds advanced to the business and compensation for snow removal. The bankruptcy petition is still playing out in court.
Love and money
The sole charge the jury was left to rule on was related to an inheritance check Williams received after his father’s passing. The prosecution alleged Critzer took about two-thirds of it from the joint account she had with Williams, then returned some, leaving $30,000 in her personal savings account. Olsen said even if Critzer returned some of the money, she still had taken it.
“Ms. Critzer had complete control of that office … She had the trust and love of Greg Williams,” Olsen told the jury. “All I can say ladies and gentleman … It’s a bad-faith taking of money. It wasn’t hers.”
“She wasn’t supposed to keep any of [the $30,000],” Williams said on the stand.
The defense provided text and audio messages in which Critzer told Williams on two occasions in April 2023 when she quit her job as store manager that she was going to keep the $30,000. Williams did not contest the assertion at the time, according to the defense, or in the following months — and sent her a card with a key to his business in May 2023 that read: “Here’s your key if you ever change your mind … I will always be waiting.”
“If money had been stolen from him … he wouldn’t have sent her the key,” Pricone said.
Williams’ current accountant, Allison Consentino, testified she was brought in right before Critzer left the company in 2023, and she requested a list of all the money Critzer claimed she was still owed. When Consentino reviewed the list, she testified, she found much had already been repaid. The prosecution accused her of trying to “double dip.”
The defense countered that Consentino had asked only for a list of what Critzer had contributed, not what she was still owed.
Barbara Hutto, a defense expert in accounting and fraud from Fairfax testified she reviewed the company’s financial tracking system and agreed with other witnesses who described it as a “mess.”
When asked whether the records were accurate, she replied, “I doubt it,” adding that she would trust Critzer’s personal financial logs — binders containing hundreds of bank statements, checks and deposit records — over the company’s.
After final testimony Friday afternoon, Pricone moved to strike all six charges, arguing that “reasonable minds cannot disagree … [we have] proven her innocence today.”
“This is not a jury issue. I urge the court to strike,” he added.
The judge struck five of the six charges, allowing the inheritance-related count to go to the jury. After requesting several financial exhibits, jurors returned with the not guilty verdict. Sighs, gasps and an “oh, yes” were heard from spectators in the courtroom gallery, some of whom were family members.
