Ex-Bossier cop charged with stealing from programs intended for children
By Web staff
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SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (KTBS) — A disgraced former Bossier City police sergeant, already facing charges of prescription-drug fraud and abuse of his police powers, was charged Thursday with stealing money from the police officers’ union he headed — including donations intended for underprivileged children.
Federal prosecutors in Shreveport charged Sanford with conspiracy to commit a crime. They allege that, using an unindicted subordinate at the police union, he siphoned off money that donors to the union had intended for charitable purposes.
Prosecutors did not specify the amount of the alleged theft, which went on for at least two years, but cited two charitable programs where money was taken: Shop With a Cop, which raises money for underprivileged children to go Christmas shopping; and a program to publish a book that would tell students about the dangers of opioid drugs. The book was never published, prosecutors said.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook would not comment on whether others are under investigation. Prosecutors did not name the union employee, who was hired to do fundraising. The embezzled money came from the employee’s paychecks, prosecutors said. He was not indicted.
No arraignment date has been scheduled for Sanford to answer the new charges. He has been in federal custody since his arrest this summer. He has since retired from the Police Department, the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board said.
Sanford, 52, is also facing malfeasance charges in Bossier Parish. Prosecutors there say Sanford, facing the loss of a lucrative moonlighting job as an apartment-complex security officer, misused confidential police information in an effort to intimidate the apartment manager who was letting him go. He has pleaded not guilty.
Sanford is also under a previous federal indictment charging him with fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers with the assistance of the union employee who did fundraising. Those charges arose out of the FBI’s embezzlement investigation. He has pleaded not guilty, as has the union employee, Mitch Morehead.
KTBS has learned the Bossier City police union’s vice president and two others who hold positions with the union were placed on administrative leave while Bossier City officials investigate union activities. Bossier City officials have not disclosed the status of that investigation.
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