Who shot the sheriff?
In the end he did it himself. An US attorney announced an indictement charging Okaloosa County Sheriff Charles “Charlie” W. Morris and his administrative director, Adams, with fraud. His own staff went to the FBI to talk about what was really going on in the Sheriff’s department after the sheriff and the administrative director were not completely transparant when concerns were raised to them. Gov. Charlie Crist suspended Sheriff Morris after he was arrested by FBI agents while on a gambling trip to Las Vegas.
The indictment alleges that the sheriff with the assistance of his Director of Administration and Finance created fictitious bonuses to sheriff’s department employees. The Sheriff’s Office employees allegedly were directed to return all or a portion of the bonuses in the form of cash and cashier’s checks under the pretense that these returned funds were to be used for charitable purposes. Guess what really happened? The “sheriff’s private support fund” benefited from this benevolent scheme gone bad. Although the booty for the sheriff was only $5,000 he will face the full range what the law has to offer.
More sad news from Okaloosaa: yesterday two Okaloosa County deputies went to Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center in response to a domestic violence call and were fatally shot. Our hearts go out tho their families.
