By Josh Davis & Brian Gilliland, Associate Editor

(Jan. 4, 2018) Former Berlin Councilwoman Lisa Hall, who is already scheduled to go to trial in Worcester County Circuit Court on February for writing bad checks, now faces a second set of charges related to her former business, the Berlin Butcher Shop.

The new charges, filed in Ocean City District Court on Dec. 20, accuse Hall of four counts of misdemeanor theft and one charge of felony theft scheme.

Court documents signed by Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Clarke allege Hall stole $700 worth of meat on Aug. 14, $600 worth of meat on Aug. 15, $600 worth of meat on Aug. 18, and $500 worth of meat on Aug. 19, all from the Ocean City Acme.

Each count carries a penalty of $500 or six months in jail.

The fifth count alleges Hall stole meat valued at $2,400 between Aug. 14-19 last year. That charge carries a penalty of up to $10,000 or five years in jail.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 19 in Worcester District Court in Ocean City.

Ocean City Police filed an incident report on the alleged theft in August. According to police department spokeswoman Lindsay Richard, police were sent to the 94th Street Acme in Ocean City on Aug. 19 after employees said a woman had ordered meat but had not paid for it.

Police said the same suspect placed a large order for meat the day before and didn’t pay and that an order been placed a different store without payment as well.

Hall appeared in District Court in Snow Hill in November on two counts of theft and four counts of passing bad checks to an Upper Marlboro, Maryland meat supplier, ostensibly to stock the now defunct butcher shop.

During that hearing, Judge Melvin Jews granted a delay until a jury trial could be held, this month. That has since been postponed again, until Feb. 1.

According to the complaint signed on Sept. 9, C & C Meat Sales Inc. made two deliveries on April 27 and May 27 last year valued at $2,836.91 and $2,415.46 and were both paid for with bad checks, apparently signed by Hall.

“She has not made either one of the checks good,” Kimberly Duncan, of C & C Meat Sales, wrote in the complaint.

Hall opened the Berlin Butcher Shop in 2016.