CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Fayette County sheriff's deputy is charged with two counts of felony fraudulent schemes for allegedly embezzling more than $375,000 from the Oak Hill Volunteer Fire Department, said West Virginia State Police Sgt. J.L. Cahill.

Deputy Micha Feltner, 40, posted $50,000 bond after being arrested on the charges Monday, Cahill said.

In July 2009, Oak Hill officials changed the way volunteer firefighters were paid for their services, Cahill said. Previously, firefighters were paid in cash, and the treasurer of the fire department - Feltner - would withdraw a lump sum from the bank to pay the firefighters.

"The Oak Hill fire department actually pays its firemen $12 a call, which is perfectly legal," Cahill said.

When the firefighters started getting paid with checks in July 2009, city officials noticed that the amount of money they were paying out for fire calls dropped dramatically, said Oak Hill City Manager Bill Hanabass.

"That was a big tip-off," he said. "I wish we could say it was, but we didn't do it as a precaution or out of suspicion. We did it because it was better procedure. ... We noticed a trend following that."

In early January, Oak Hill city officials asked the State Police to investigate a possible fraudulent billing scheme, Cahill said.

The fire department's books were audited by three separate groups - the State Police, Oak Hill officials and a third, independent CPA firm - and all found at least $375,000 missing, Cahill said.

Deputy Micha Feltner, 40, posted $50,000 bond after being arrested on the charges Monday, Cahill said.

In July 2009, Oak Hill officials changed the way volunteer firefighters were paid for their services, Cahill said. Previously, firefighters were paid in cash, and the treasurer of the fire department - Feltner - would withdraw a lump sum from the bank to pay the firefighters.

"The Oak Hill fire department actually pays its firemen $12 a call, which is perfectly legal," Cahill said.

When the firefighters started getting paid with checks in July 2009, city officials noticed that the amount of money they were paying out for fire calls dropped dramatically, said Oak Hill City Manager Bill Hanabass.

"That was a big tip-off," he said. "I wish we could say it was, but we didn't do it as a precaution or out of suspicion. We did it because it was better procedure. ... We noticed a trend following that."

In early January, Oak Hill city officials asked the State Police to investigate a possible fraudulent billing scheme, Cahill said.

The fire department's books were audited by three separate groups - the State Police, Oak Hill officials and a third, independent CPA firm - and all found at least $375,000 missing, Cahill said.

The money comes out of both the city of Oak Hill's general fund and the Oak Hill Volunteer Fire Department Fire Levy fund, he said. Money from the fire fund is used to pay for calls answered outside of the city, he said.

"Basically, he was inflating the number of calls, over-billing, over a period of six years," Cahill said.

As an example, Cahill said Feltner may have needed $2,500 to pay the firefighters and would take out well over that, as much as $6,000, and pocket the difference.

"Where there had been a $10,000 or $12,000 a month bill, now it was $6,000 or $7,000 a month after [the procedure changed]," Cahill said. "When they started to send out checks, there wasn't much room to conceal the excess they had in the past."

Feltner also is president of the local chapter of the Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club, which is made up of police, fire and EMS workers. He was a member of Fayette and Raleigh County's Trilateral Drug Enforcement Network Team (TRIDENT), sources say. TRIDENT was disbanded in 2009 but had overseen the counties' drug investigations for many years.

Cahill said he wanted to stress that this appeared to be a one-man operation. No other charges are expected, he said.

"This is no reflection on all volunteer fire departments or even on Oak Hill," he said. "By and large they do an incredibly thankless job and do it well. But occasionally, there's a bad apple, like any organization."

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.