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Williams Tree Service bankruptcy case dismissed

by | Mar 7, 2026

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(Courtesy/Adobe Stock)

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Williams Tree Service of Amissville has been dismissed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, ending the company’s efforts to reorganize. The dismissal, which the business did not contest, is set to take effect April 15. 

Williams Tree Service filed for bankruptcy last August, listing 17 creditors. Former store manager Robbie Critzer later filed a complaint seeking to be added as an 18th creditor, asserting that the company owed her more than $100,000 in unpaid wages, personal funds advanced to the business and snow removal work.

The court’s order follows a series of motions by both Critzer and U.S. Trustee Matthew Cheney, a federal official who oversees bankruptcy cases, to dismiss the case, which the company did not contest. It also comes after a Rappahannock County jury in February found Critzer not guilty of embezzling funds from Williams Tree Service, a case tied to some of the financial disputes central to the bankruptcy filing.

“The Debtor has alleged in various pleadings filed with the Court that Robbie Critzer embezzled $300,000.00 from it, but … has presented no evidence in support of those allegations, and acknowledges that Critzer was acquitted of all criminal charges relating to the alleged embezzlement by a jury,” the order to dismiss said. “The Debtor will not contest the allegations in the U.S. Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss.”

In filings last week, the trustee objected to the business’s reorganization, writing that “the Debtor has not demonstrated the ability to perform even the basic tasks of operating a business” and expressing doubts that the company could meet the payment plans proposed in the filing.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.