Monday, November 28, 2005

Letter to Judge Clawson

On Tuesday this week the Finance committee will meet to discuss, among other things, the recommendations made in the Legislative Audit report that showed thousands in misspend tax dollars. Special Prosecutor Stephen Tabor of Sebastian County said in a letter to District Judge Charles Clawson that he doesn't feel charges should be brought even though there is "ample evidence to arouse suspicion" in this case. I recently got a copy of this letter and posted at our website. http://www.fcso.info/tabor.doc

What I find interesting in this letter is the second paragraph where Tabor details how he did his review in this case. Tabor reviewed the file, met with the investigators, met with an unnamed attorney who represented Sheriff Montgomery, then read the report again to make sure.

During the course of my review, I not only reviewed the file, but also met with Mr. McQuary, Special Investigator Mike Richard and representatives from the Auditor's Office. I also met with an attorney representing Sheriff Montgomery to receive any explanations he might have to offer. I then reviewed the file yet again to insure I was confident in my decision.


Now in reading the rest of the letter it would appear that this unnamed attorney had a hand in the writing of it. Statements like "there is clear evidence of theft or fraudulent use of credit cards" and "Sheriff incurred or authorized expenditures which should not have been approved or paid by the County" but none of these are considered to be crimes committed by Sheriff Montgomery. And that was just on the first page.

In the remainder of this letter Tabor goes on to explain away all of the other misdeeds much in the same way a defense attorney would before a jury. Instead of aggressively prosecuting this crime against the people of this county Tabor offers, Montgomery says the expenses were "job related". Even on the tuition issue Tabor backs away because Montgomery said it allowed him to better perform his duties. Never mind the fact that it has already been established as a personal expense and was repaid after it was discovered.

Clearly Special Prosecutor Tabor was not an aggressive advocate for the people but rather just another politician protecting our good ol' boy Sheriff Marty Montgomery. I think we should all email Mr. Tabor with our disgust at his disregard for the people of Faulkner County. You can reach him at stevetabor@co.sebastian.ar.us

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