BYLINE: Karen Voyles, Staff writer
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Alachua County, FL
Charles Allen Smith
Detectives say he stole around $16,000 in seized cash this year.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office arrested one of its own Monday afternoon on accusations that he stole money from the agency's evidence section.
Evidence custodian Charles Allen Smith, 26, of 2701 SW 13th St., was charged with money laundering, grand theft and destroying evidence.
According to an arrest report by Detective Sandra Myers, the case against Smith began in August when the Waldo Police Department was looking for $16,261 in cash that had been seized in a criminal case and placed in the secure evidence storage area at the Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Steve Maynard said the Sheriff's Office provides evidence storage space as a courtesy to some of the smaller agencies in Alachua County that might not have the facilities to store evidence otherwise.
Myers said the last time the Waldo cash had been accounted for was in January during a routine audit of the evidence section.
When a supervisor began looking for the cash in August, Myers said the supervisor discovered that the “paperwork related to the stolen currency had been removed from within the evidence section in an apparent attempt to conceal the theft of the currency.”
The supervisor, Smith and one other employee all had access to the cash and the paperwork, according to the Sheriff's Office, and all three employees were notified that an investigation would be conducted about the apparent theft.
Myers said that as soon as Smith was told about the investigation, he removed all of his personal items from his work area, hired an attorney and refused to be interviewed about the case.
The other two employees agreed to take polygraph tests, and both received results that indicated “no deception indicated,” Myers said.
Smith's known financial records were subpoenaed, Myers said, and showed that in May, he and a longtime roommate made cash down payments totaling $6,000 on a 2008 Jeep Liberty and a 2009 travel trailer. The records did not show any withdrawals large enough from Smith's known accounts to cover the down payments.
The roommate, who has lived with Smith for about seven years, told investigators he thought the money had come from a lump-sum settlement Smith received in a workers' compensation case.
Myers said Smith was injured on the job in September 2007 and received biweekly payments ranging from $138.01 to $736.42 through April, when the payments ended.
Personnel records show Smith was hired by the Sheriff's Office on April 5, 2005, to work in the Combined Communications Center. He transferred to the evidence section on March 1, 2009, as an assistant evidence custodian.
Smith was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. Monday while he was at work and then booked into the county jail. Sheriff's spokesman Art Forgey said Smith was placed on paid administrative suspension as soon as he was arrested at his $28,649-a-year job.
When a supervisor began looking for the cash in August, Myers said the supervisor discovered the "paperwork related to the stolen currency had been removed from within the evidence section in an apparent attempt to conceal the theft of the currency."
The supervisor, Smith and one other employee all had access to the cash and the paperwork, according to the Sheriff's Office, and all three employees were notified that an investigation would be conducted about the apparent theft.
Myers said that as soon as Smith was told about the investigation, he removed all of his personal items from his work area, hired an attorney and refused to be interviewed about the case.
The other two employees agreed to take polygraph tests, and both received results that indicated "no deception indicated," Myers said.
Smith's known financial records were subpoenaed, Myers said, and showed that in May, he and a longtime roommate made cash down payments totaling $6,000 on a 2008 Jeep Liberty and a 2009 travel trailer. The records did not show any withdrawals large enough from Smith's known accounts to cover the down payments.
The roommate, who has lived with Smith for about seven years, told investigators he thought the money had come from a lump-sum settlement Smith received in a workers' compensation case.
Myers said Smith was injured on the job in September 2007 and received biweekly payments ranging from $138.01 to $736.42 through April, when the payments ended.
Personnel records show Smith was hired by the Sheriff's Office on April 5, 2005, to work in the Combined Communications Center. He transferred to the evidence section on March 1, 2009, as an assistant evidence custodian.
Smith was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. Monday while he was at work and then booked into the county jail. Sheriff's spokesman Art Forgey said Smith was placed on paid administrative suspension as soon as he was arrested at his $28,649-a-year job.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
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