GERARD CHENEY, THE FORMER PRESIDENT of the Sam Bass Vol. Fire Department in Williamson County, Texas, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison.  You may recall our earlier reports on his arrest last summer because the fire department is curiously named after a notorious outlaw, and bank and train robber from the 19th century who was hunted down and killed by a posse of Texas Rangers.

Cheney was first being investigated by the sheriff’s department for the theft of $220,000 from the VFD.  During the course of the investigation, his wife discovered a cache of child pornography on the family’s computer and reported it to the investigators.  After becoming aware of that, they charged Cheney last August with four counts of possession of child pornography, a 3rd-degree felony.  He was held in jail because nobody would bail him out.  See the first Firegeezer video REPORT HERE  on the initial arrest and some background on Cheney (and the notorious Sam Bass).

A month later, in September Cheney was further charged with the embezzlement of the fire department funds.  Read that report on Firegeezer HERE .

His wife of 17 years was completely blindsided by the investigations and she fully cooperated with the investigators.  While Cheney was still in jail she separated from him and moved her family out.  On September 10 she gave this interview to KXAN-TV Ch. 36 Austin and gave the tv crew a tour of the house showing many of the items that Gerard had purchased with the purloined money:

This past Tuesday Cheney, now 48, pleaded guilty to first-degree felony theft and four counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The Austin American-Statesman REPORTED:

Cheney joined the department in August 1994 and was president and treasurer of the five-member board for about four years, until his arrest, according to the arrest affidavit.  He was suspended after the pornography arrest and resigned in early September, officials said.

Officials said at the time of Cheney’s arrest that he was receiving the department’s bank statements and was responsible for providing a monthly report on receipts and disbursements.

After his arrest, officials with the emergency district and fire board said they would take steps to avoid giving any one person control of their $1.4 million budget.

The judge sentenced Cheney to 40 years in prison for the theft charge and 10 years in prison, the maximum, for each of the child pornography charges. The child pornography sentences will run consecutively, but concurrently with the theft charge.  He will be eligible for parole in ten years.

Sam Bass Fire Department WEBSITE.