TUCSON, Arizona (KOLD News 13) – The Arizona Attorney’s Office has settled a lawsuit against the former Santa Cruz County Sheriff and his Chief of Staff. A lawsuit filed in June 2021 alleges that he misused nearly $200,000 in taxpayer money.An investigation by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office found the funds Illegally used as overtime for “not working”.
Former 7th Term Sheriff Tony Estrada and former Captain Ruben Fuentes have been ordered to pay $10,000 between them to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office by February 21, 2022.
Santa Cruz County also had to pay $20,000 through its insurance pool.
Current Sheriff David Hathaway says that means most of the money will never be recovered.
“Things like that may sound trivial, but we have a very small tax base here, so this kind of funding is very important,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway says the money could have been spent on roads, schools or public health. Instead, the money was used to increase the salaries of lieutenants.
An Arizona audit found that 77 sheriff employees logged 7,220 hours of “unattended” overtime during the five years under Estrada’s leadership. The total amount of compensation he received was $196,842.
Douglas Clark Jr., who represented Estrada and Fuentes in the lawsuit, said, “The complaint made them look like criminals.” Those who defended the people of Nogales received their due.”
MCR Attorneys’ Clark said employees were being compensated for “enhanced duties,” but that “overtime” was the only way to record extra work. He says county officials were aware of the practice and approved it. He believes a settlement is the best possible outcome, given that the Attorney General’s office was seeking three times more damages than his (about $600,000).
“Ruben too [Tony] I have a lot of money,” Clark said. “They’ve been civil servants all their lives. If they have to take it back, I think they have to take it back from the 77 employees who got it.”
According to Hathaway, lawsuit Sent a clear message.
“Mishandling funds is not appropriate,” he said.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is working to regain public trust, Hathaway said.
“I try to have a very transparent stance and an open door policy,” he said. is needed.”
Tony Estrada did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
In the settlement agreement, he said: “Based on the conduct outlined in the April 2021 State Comptroller General Report, we acknowledge our failure to interpret and apply the county’s budgetary policies and regulations regarding employee payments.”
KOLD News 13 We are also awaiting a response from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
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