Ball mayor, police chief, town clerk, police officer, and police department employee indicted. Quoting from the AP story:

All five were charged in a three-count indictment with disaster fraud and conspiracy to commit disaster fraud for falsifying employee timesheets linked to the town’s request for payroll reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after 2008’s Hurricane Gustav. Washington said Hebron and Kimball also face a count of theft of government money for similar actions after Hurricane Rita.

The indictment alleges that the defendants defrauded the government by overstating both the hours worked and the mileage on town vehicles and equipment used in response to Gustav and later submitting the falsified timesheets to FEMA for reimbursement.

Each of the defendants faces an Oct. 15 arraignment date before U.S. Magistrate James D. Kirk.

Disaster fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Conspiracy carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine and theft of government money carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

5 thoughts

  1. Not to infer guilt or innocence , but I have heard rumblings and grumbling on this group for a long time. I am not surprised.
    Alex

  2. Makes you wonder just what was going on in the town of Ball. Sometimes back, there were allegations that Mayor Hebron had a water line installed directly onto his property and didn’t pay for the work. Could that have been the beginning of things to come.

    What I can’t understand is that people ought to know by now that you can’t screw over the federal government and get away with it, so why even try to pull the wool over the feds’ eyes.Some are stating that the feds have no evidence on Barber, Herbronm and the others, but let’s be real hear, when an indictment is handed down against someone, you better believe that the feds have their stuff in order. I don’t know of anyone who has been indicted by the feds who have been aquitted of their charges. Ball officials should have not put their hand in the government’s cookie jar. They got caught, now they will have to pay for their lapse in judgement.

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