Sheriff Charged With Tapping Drug Fund for $48,000 Raise
James Hickey once said he was underpaid during his 10 years as Nueces County sheriff.
Shortly before leaving office last year, he allegedly wrote himself a check from a federal drug-forfeiture fund. He jotted a little memo: “salary adjustment.”
The amount: a $48,000 retroactive salary increase.
The result: He was charged Wednesday in a federal grand jury indictment said to be the first of its kind in the nation.
The indictment alleges that Hickey, 55, and attorney Bradford Condit, 40, conspired to embezzle and misapply sheriff’s department funds from 1987 through 1992. If convicted, they could each be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Defense attorneys said their clients would be found innocent. Arraignments were scheduled for Aug. 27.
Hickey earned $55,000 a year, plus a $5,400 annual car allowance, during his 10 years as sheriff. The indictment cites more than $158,000 in payments from the drug-forfeiture fund, including Hickey’s retroactive pay increase of $400 a month, and a $100,800 check he wrote to Condit for current and future legal services.
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