BOTH THE FIRE CHIEF AND HIS WIFE OF A WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS, volunteer fire department were arrested Wednesday and charged with spending taxpayer funds on themselves.
James Pogue, who has been a member of the Liberty Hill Fire Department for 40 years, turned himself in to the sheriff Wednesday morning and was charged, along with his wife, with misappropriation of funds, a class A misdemeanor. His wife Leslye Pogue, the department’s administrative assistant and EMS coordinator, was also charged with coercion of a public servant, also a Class A misdemeanor.
The Austin American-Statesman reports:
The sheriff’s office began a criminal investigation into the Pogues in February after a Williamson County auditor’s office review and an independent audit found numerous questionable expenditures by Emergency Services District No. 4, which serves about 20,000 residents in and around Liberty Hill. The district receives about $30,000 from the county and more than $700,000 from district taxpayers, according to an arrest affidavit.
The county audit found that Leslye Pogue spent more than $500 in department money on fuel for her personal vehicle, diet pills, snacks such as chips and soft drinks, and allergy medication, according to an arrest affidavit.
Sheriff’s officials also accused Leslye Pogue of trying to coerce support from district board member Sandra Taylor against claims in the audits. According to the affidavit, Pogue suggested that she would not send a potentially embarrassing letter to Taylor to a newspaper and her employer in exchange for the support.
You can read the entire American-Statesmen story HERE.
The state audit done in November found several unauthorized expenditures using FD credit cards, including: Book purchases made at Barnes & Noble that did not appear to be related to the operations of the department; Someone received cash back after using a department credit card at Wal-Mart; Fuel purchases were made with department credit cards for personal vehicles without mileage logs or expense reports to substantiate them.
Perhaps sensing that trouble lay ahead, Chief Pogue had held a news conference earlier this month (HERE) to explain that all the expenditures had been properly accounted for. “We have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Pogue said. “Everything’s been documented.”
Both of the Pogues are still being held on $10,000 bond for each charge.
KVUE-TV has this report:
Liberty Hill Fire Dept. WEBSITE.
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