AUSTINTOWN TWP., Ohio - A 75-year-old Hubbard woman has been sentenced for cheating an Austintown hotel out of tens of thousands of dollars by letting relatives stay there rent-free.

Diane Coandle was found guilty of a felony theft charge late last week and sentenced to probation.

The alleged crimes took place between October 2022 and August 2024, when Coandle was an employee of the Fairfield Inn on North Canfield Niles Road.

A regional director for the hotel chain told police that while investigating a report of two rooms being rented out but not paid for.

The director, who reported finding the rooms filled with clutter and a relative of Coandle staying in one of them, told police that Coandle admitted making adjustments to rooms in her name and the names of others, and sending bills to fictitious people.

Hotel officials alleged that Coandle was able to do so because she had access to the business’s computers, enabling her to make adjustments to billing and reservations.

According to the police report, the alleged crime cost the hotel between $50,000 and $70,000 in lost rent