Enter Article DATE HERE
TAMPA — A retired lawman and husband of a disgraced Tampa police detective admitted Thursday that he cashed a U.S. Treasury check his wife had stolen from an evidence room.
Thomas A. Hevel pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a single charge of theft of government property related to the disappearance of the $4,550 check.
His plea agreement tied the theft to his wife, Jeanette Hevel, a former Tampa police sergeant who was convicted in 2013 of stealing several tax refund checks that were made payable to other people.
The check in question, which was payable to a person with the initials R.L., disappeared in October 2011. Thomas Hevel obtained it from his wife, then deposited it into a bank account, according to the plea agreement. He used the proceeds to pay his November 2011 rent.
The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set. Thomas Hevel retired from the Tampa Police Department a year before the theft.
His wife, a 27-year TPD veteran who was once named Officer of the Year, was fired in 2013 after the thefts were discovered. Authorities determined she stole more than $90,000, much of it from fraudulently obtained IRS tax refund checks that police had confiscated during identity theft investigations.
In 2015, a federal judge sentenced her to probation.
Retired Tampa police officer pleads guilty to theft of treasury check 04/27/17 [Last modified: Thursday, April 27, 2017 8:38pm]
Photo reprints | Article reprints
Tip leads to the arrest of former DeSoto Police Department property and evidence clerk accused of stealing guns from evidence room April 19th, 2024 DESOTO, Texas — DeSoto police say they recovered 13 ...
FDLE criminal probe of Starke Police: Guns, money, drugs among 2,500 pieces of missing evidence April 3rd, 2024 STARKE, Fla. — Action News Jax's Ben Becker is getting answers about a Northeast Florida...
Former Nyssa chief convicted of misconduct, sentenced to jail, loses badge April 3rd, 2024 Ray Rau, Tillamook police chief and former chief in Nyssa, was convicted of official misconduct Wednesday for...