Two Bedford women have been charged with felony theft by deception for scheduling a horse race ostensibly to raise money for state police — but subsequently failing to donate the profits.

Heather Mearkle, 20, and Corrine Heltzel, 42, scheduled a barrel horse race they called the 2017 Run for Troopers event Sept. 16 and 17, 2017, at the Keystone Horse Center in Bloomsburg, according to a news release from state police at Bedford.

They published flyers that indicated the event was a benefit for state police and contacted individuals and businesses for donations, police said.

They made more than $3,000 and obtained $2,500 worth of donated merchandise, police said.