Emporia ? An Emporia man will stand trial on a charge of stealing almost $101,000 in donations intended for the National Rifle Assn., a judge ruled Thursday.

The preliminary hearing for Marvin E. Blevins, 50, lasted under an hour — with only one witness testifying — before Lyon County District Judge William Dick was ready to issue his ruling.

Prosecutors charge that Blevins, a former field representative for the Friends of the NRA — the fund-raising arm of the gun owners’ advocacy group — took $100,944.81 in money donated in October 2002. The donations came at eight events held in Kansas and Nebraska.

Blevins faces one count of theft over $25,000, or eight counts of felony theft between $500 and $25,000.

The only witness to testify Thursday was Emporia police Sgt. Dennis Delmott, who said the alleged thefts came to light after Blevins wrote several letters to the director of the NRA’s field operations divisions.

Delmott testified that in one letter, Blevins indicated he planned to kill himself and provided instructions for his wife to return property belonging to the NRA.

In another letter, Delmott said, Blevins wrote that he took the money to gamble in order to continue raising more money for the Fairfax, Va.-based NRA.

Blevins’ attorney, Steve Atherton, argued that prosecutors had no evidence to charge him with anything more serious than temporary deprivation of property.

But Jennifer Hendrix, an assistant county attorney, said Blevins already had amassed significant gambling losses using his wife’s retirement money and $100,000 in credit card debt.

Blevins’ next court appearance was set for July 15. He is free on a $10,000 signature bond. No trial date has been set.