Deschutes SO supervisor placed on leave over missing funds

Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson said Friday he has put a sheriff’s office supervisor on paid administrative leave pending the results of a multi-agency investigation “related to the accounting of funds from several law enforcement accounts.”

In an interview with NewsChannel 21, Nelson said his office is taking this investigation very seriously.

“To me, this shows that audit processes and policies and procedures work,” Nelson said. “In this investigation, it’s shown an area where we want to take a look a little bit closer.”

Nelson said he cannot release many details, since he does not want to jeopardize the investigation.

Spokeswoman Gerri Badden with the U.S. Attorney’s Office said she did not want to comment on the investigation at this point.

While many of the details — the amount involved, or the identity of the person — were not released, here is the rest of the full news release from Nelson and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“During the transition between retiring Sheriff Larry Blanton and incoming Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, a Deschutes County audit recommended that additional internal analysis be conducted of the funds used for investigative purposes.

“Sheriff Nelson directed DCSO staff to follow the recommendations of the County audit. This September 2015 DCSO internal audit found issues related to funds used for investigative purposes.

“The DCSO internal audit, which is still on-going, prompted the broader inquiry, and to preserve the integrity of the investigation, the placement of the supervisor on administrative leave.

“The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Bend Police, Oregon State Police and Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office are working with the United States Attorney’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation in evaluating this matter.

“This is an ongoing investigation and any release of further information could compromise the integrity of the investigation.”

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel issued the following statement Friday afternoon about the investigation:

“Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel had this to say about the investigation into missing money that was announced today by Sheriff Nelson:

“Kudos to Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson and Deschutes County Auditor David Givans for detecting that money is missing from a multi-agency account and an internal Sheriff’s Office account. Their coordinated and systematic approach to safeguarding taxpayer money is a credit to them and their offices.”

“The Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office referred this matter to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon and are fully cooperating with the investigation that is being led by that office. Questions regarding the status of the investigation should be directed to Billy Williams, the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Oregon.”

Hummel ended by saying: “Deschutes County residents should be confident that when a misdeed occurs in local government, local officials will root it out and right the wrong.”

The investigation into missing funds brings to mind the case of former sheriff Greg Brown, who served about three years in federal prison for embezzling nearly $575,000 from the county and the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District. The one-time Oregon Sheriff of the Year diverted money to personal accounts and falsified names on canceled checks.