A Goshen Township dog breeder has pled guilty to taking payments from victims who purchased puppies she never provided.

Forty-year-old April Waidman pled guilty to more than 80 charges including 45 felony theft charges and 26 misdemeanor theft charges.

Waidman is set for sentencing on April 24. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of six months in jail and five years of probation. They are also recommending a judge ban her from breeding dogs while on probation. 

One victim, Debbie Saluga, is hoping Waidman will get time behind bars.

”I find it unbelievable that she can scam that many people for that amount of money and this has been going on for a couple of years now,” Saluga said. 

Saluga asked Waidman for a mini dachshund and paid her $800 dollars but never got her new companion. 

“I mean she still has that arrogance about her and no I don't think that she's taken accountability,” Saluga said. "I think she just wants it to be over.”

Waidman has been breeding dogs for an unknown amount of time. Prosecutors say she did legitimately sell some dogs to people who never had any issues but didn’t keep her promises to everyone.

“There were others that received animals that they immediately became very sick and they had to incur veterinary bills,” Lynn Maro, Mahoning County Prosecutor said. “...The ones that were included that she pled guilty to, individuals never received animals.”

32 charges were initially filed in April of 2024 and 39 more were filed in June of that same year. 

Waidman was originally charged after several criminal and civil suits were filed against her after people from the Mahoning Valley and beyond accused her of taking money but never delivering their puppies. Those cases amount to more than $106,000 allegedly taken from would-be dog owners.

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