Prosecutors drop witness tampering charge against Newport woman

Andrea Beard sits with her husband, former Newport school board member Tim Beard, before his arraignment in Windsor Superior Court on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in White River Junction, Vt. Tim Beard was arraigned on one count of sexual exploitation with a minor. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Jennifer Hauck
Published: 02-04-2025 7:01 PM |
NEWPORT — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Newport woman accused of witness tampering in a police investigation of her husband, who recently saw criminal charges against him dismissed as well, back-to-back vindications in the eyes of the couple, who maintained their innocence throughout the legal saga.
The Sullivan County Attorney’s Office, citing “prosecutorial discretion,” last month moved to dismiss two charges against Andrea Beard.
Beard, 41, had been accused of attempting to induce the family member of a man involved in vandalizing the Beards’ property not to cooperate with police in their investigation of Tim Beard’s allegedly inappropriate texting with minors, according to court documents.
Emphasizing that she always refused to entertain a plea deal with prosecutors, Andrea Beard said the public attention that embroiled herself and her husband hurt their sewer and drain business as some people assumed they were guilty of the charges.
“There are always people who believe whatever they read,” Andrea Beard said this week. “I can’t do anything about that.”
The dismissal of the charges against Andrea Beard came as a surprise, just as she and her defense team were gearing up to go to trial, according to her attorney, Gary Apfel.
“Ms. Beard, my co-counsel Allison Schwartz, and I appeared for jury selection on January 6, ready to pick a jury and begin trying the case,” Apfel said via email to the Valley News.
“We were informed that morning of the county attorney’s decision not to proceed to trial. While we were disappointed this resolution did not occur earlier, we took solace in the fact that justice prevailed at the end of the day,” he said.
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A dropped charge does not speak to either the innocence or guilt of the defendant. Prosecutors are not required to assert a reason to the court when seeking dismissal; it only means prosecutors decided against going forward with the case.
Andrea Beard claims the prosecution’s key witness — a family member of a man who vandalized the Beards’ vehicle — got cold feet about taking the stand, undermining the state’s ability to prove its case.
“She changed her mind and didn’t want to testify,” Andrea Beard said.
Sullivan County State Attorney Christine Hilliard was not immediately available on Tuesday.
The cases against the Beards were linked to a 2023 vandalism spree when four men spray painted racist slurs and other messages on vehicles and property in Newport and surrounding towns.
As part of the spree, the vandals defaced vehicles owned by the Beards.
The Beards’ legal problems began shortly afterward in January 2024, when Tim Beard was charged in Vermont with sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old female, a crime that allegedly had occurred at a campground in Windsor County six years earlier.
At the time of the vandalism, Newport police also had been investigating Tim Beard for allegedly sending inappropriate texts to high school girls in Newport.
The alleged victim in Windsor, now an adult, never made a complaint against Tim Beard — the charge was brought by Windsor County prosecutors based upon information presented to them by Newport police.
The reason prosecutors dropped the charge is not known. The Windsor County State Attorney’s office did not offer an explanation last October when the decision was made.
Beard was never charged in connection with the texting investigation in Newport.
A couple months after Tim Beard was charged in Vermont, Andrea Beard was indicted in Sullivan County and charged with witness tampering.
Police alleged she attempted to discourage a family member of one of the four men involved in defacing the Beards’ vehicle from cooperating in the police investigation of her husband, according to court documents.
Tim Beard had been a local media personality in Newport before he was charged in Vermont in January, 2024, co-hosting a podcast on YouTube that was akin to a morning radio drive-time program — and often featured friendly interviews with local police — and racked up thousands of views over dozens of episodes.
After the charges came to light, the YouTube podcast stopped and Tim Beard stepped down from the Newport School Board, although he continues to remain a member on the town’s zoning board, of which he is currently vice chairman.
Among the four men charged in the vandalism spree, two have pleaded guilty. A third was found incompetent to stand trial.
The fourth, Brandon Teeter, notified the court at the end of last year that he intends to plead guilty. His plea and sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 18, according to court records.
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.