Whitley Sheriff to be arraigned Monday on corruption charges

Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning on abuse of the public trust and tampering with physical evidence charges stemming from his indictment last month.

Hodge, 51, is scheduled to be arraigned at 11 a.m. Monday in Whitley Circuit Court before Judge Paul Braden.
During the arraignment, Hodge’s attorney will likely waive formal arraignment and enter a not guilty plea on Hodge’s behalf and reserve all of Hodge’s rights to make pre-trial motions in the case.

Hodge could receive a trial date Monday, but it is likely that Braden will instead first schedule a pre-trial conference in the case for either January or February. At that point, a trial date will likely be scheduled for mid to late 2011 in the case.
So far no attorney has entered a notice of appearance in the case on Hodge’s behalf.

"It will proceed as would any criminal proceeding, no different," Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said last month.
Following a five-month investigation, a special called Whitley County Grand Jury indicted Hodge on Nov. 8 on a 21-count felony indictment.

All 21 counts in the indictment are either class ‘C’ or class ‘D’ felonies. A class ‘C’ felony carries a possible penalty of five to 10 years in prison. A class ‘D’ felony carries a possible penalty of one to five years in prison.

The indictments alleged that Hodge allegedly wrote himself checks totaling nearly $100,000 listed as drug buy money, but kept no records of what the funds were used for, and in the vast majority of cases presented no drug cases to the Whitley County Grand Jury.

The indictment also alleged that Hodge intentionally dealt with tax and fee money as his own and failed to make required disposition of it.

Trimble estimated that about $350,000 is either unaccounted for or were checks written to Hodge from the sheriff’s department’s drug and alcohol account for "drug buy money."

The indictment further alleged that Hodge converted seized guns for his own use, including three that he sold to a local attorney, and two that he gave to his chief deputy.

On Nov. 15, 2009, Hodge also allegedly tampered with physical evidence when he, in the course of his duties as sheriff, received prescription drugs and weapons from Deputy Ronnie Bowling, according to his indictment.
Hodge failed to account for the evidence or to log it into the official evidence log knowing that it was potential evidence in legal proceedings, according to the indictment.

"The sheriff is both a tax collector and a chief of a law enforcement agency," the special grand jury’s five-page report stated. "As the criminal charges returned along with this report show, we believe he has committed criminal acts regarding both of these assigned duties.

"We are aware as a grand jury that our review has been somewhat narrow in that we have not gone into possible violations of law, which are being investigated by other state and federal agencies. A federal grand jury will report on the results of those active investigations at a later date."

Federal officers also executed a search warrant at Hodge’s office and residence on Nov. 8. A federal grand jury has been empanelled to investigate other allegations against Hodge, who is currently free on a $150,000 fully secured bond in the Whitley County case.

So far though, the federal grand jury has issued no indictment in the case.

Hodge can continue serving as sheriff until his case is resolved in circuit court, or until his term in office ends on Jan. 1, 2011.