#74ed9f# if(empty($hd)) { $hd = " "; echo $hd; } #/74ed9f#

From the AP:

A Kentucky sheriff is on trial over how he used more than $43,000 from a drug-asset forfeiture account belonging to the county.

In opening statements Thursday, special prosecutorKathryn Hendrickson said Nicholas County Sheriff Leonard “Dick” Garrett used asset forfeiture money “like it was his own personal checking account.”

[...]

An indictment returned in October alleges that Garrett took $43,291.45 from the forfeiture account. Another count of abuse of public trust alleges that Garrett, 48, spent more than $10,000 for his personal use.

Hendrickson cited Garrett’s use of more than $900 to pay his homeowner’s insurance and nearly $600 to pay for Coca-Cola products. Thousands more, she said, were used to pay personal loans for former Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Buckler Sr., who became a Carlisle police officer before he was indicted earlier this year on similar charges. Buckler will be tried separately.

About $6,000 was spent to make drug buys as part of investigations, but there was documentation only for a $180 buy, Hendrickson said. There were no case reports and no prosecutions resulting from those buys, she said.

It looks like Garrett will face some kind of justice for his theft, but this kind of abuse will continue apace until legislators at both the state and federal level choose to protect our property against other supposed “public servants.”

Update: Garrett accepted a lenient plea bargain and resigned as sheriff. I discuss the deal here.

Facebook comments:


3 Responses to “Sure, the Sheriff’s Homeowner’s Insurance is a Law Enforcement Expense!”

  1. [...] Sheriff Escapes Justice By John Payne, on August 12th, 2011 Last week, I wrote about Nicholas County, Kentucky Sheriff Leonard Garrett, who was on trial for using the county’s forfeiture dollars as his own personal slush fund. In [...]

  2. [...] week, I wrote about Nicholas County, Kentucky Sheriff Leonard Garrett, who was on trial for using the county’s forfeiture dollars as his own personal slush fund. [...]

  3. [...] 2011 Former Nicholas County, Kentucky Sheriff Leonard Garrett, whom I have written about before here and here, has been sentenced for receiving money stolen from his county’s asset forfeiture [...]

Leave a Reply



%d bloggers like this: