Sheriff Dodges Bullet

 
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)

July 7, 1987, Tuesday, City Edition

Investigators question ex-sheriff's transactions

DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE

 

TALLAHASSEE - On May 29, 1979, state investigators say, the wife of    then-Sarasota Sheriff Jim Hardcastle made a $ 2,000 cash down payment on    a 1979 two-door Lincoln coupe.
 
    Five months later, the sheriff paid $ 2,000 cash for a 1966 Ford    Mustang. Hardcastle gave the car to their daughter for her 16th    birthday, friends told investigators.
 
    Then, in April 1980, Hardcastle used $ 3,400 cash as a down payment    on a 1978 Chevrolet pickup truck.
 
    In each case, and eight others cited in a report sent to    prosecutors, Hardcastle or his wife used cash that investigators could    not track to any "legitimate" source, such as the couple's checking    accounts or loans. At the same time, the investigators' report says,    the cash could have have come from a sheriff's department investigative      fund that is missing money.
 
    Despite the report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement    (FDLE), a special prosecutor concluded that there was not enough    evidence to support a criminal charge against Hardcastle, who was    defeated in his 1984 bid for re-election. The report outlined charges    for prosecutors to consider based on evidence that investigators    collected in two years of audits and interviews.
 
    Hardcastle could not be reached for comment Monday, and his lawyer    is on vacation in Europe, the lawyer's secretary said.
 
    Hardcastle was interviewed for the audit but refused to take a lie    detector test and would not provide personal financial statements from    1977 to 1984.
 
    Although the prosecutor reached his decision in December 1985, the    state's investigative files were not opened until recently after they    were returned by officials with the Internal Revenue Service.
 
    The investigators' report, obtained by the St. Petersburg Times    Monday, also shows that:         Hardcastle "instructed" his personal secretary to "withhold    information or lie" about $ 5,000 he gave her so she could buy a car.
 
At one point he suggested she refuse to reveal the source of the money,    saying it came from a socially prominent, married man she could not    compromise, she told investigators.
 
     Department ledgers documenting use of investigative funds    disappeared after Hardcastle collected them from his subordinates. The    records supervisor in Hardcastle's department said he gave her records    to shred.
 
    Prosecutors decided that the evidence was too sketchy to charge    Hardcastle with stealing from the investigative fund, officials said    Monday.
 
    It was clear that Hardcastle "was spending more money than he had    and that there were funds missing from the (investigative) fund," said    Barbara Linthicum, deputy general counsel to the governor. "The basic    problem was connecting up the two."
 
    The state has to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he got the    money from the fund," she said. "We couldn't."
 
    Leon County prosecutor Peter Antonacci was preparing the case in    September 1985 when an expert witness convinced him not to bother,    Antonacci said Monday.
 
    "There was no direct evidence that he (Hardcastle) took the money,    only that he had excess income," Antonacci said. The expert, former    IRS supervisor Richard Nossen, suggested instead that the IRS could sue      Hardcastle, Antonacci said.
 
    "Our expert said it was a great civil collections case. . . . We    packed it up and sent it to the IRS," Antonacci said.
 
    The IRS finished its investigation about a month ago without    telling him what was decided, FDLE investigator Ken Bridges said    Monday.
 
    IRS spokeswoman DeeDee Cobb-Byrd would not comment Monday on    whether the agency had investigated Hardcastle. She said only that no    civil or criminal charges have been brought.
 
    Hardcastle did face a criminal charge once, but he was acquitted on    that count. In February 1984, a special prosecutor said the sheriff    took a pleasure trip to the Bahamas using his department's airplane.
 
    Hardcastle, who was suspended from office while fighting the    charge, said he was conducting an investigation and that he used his    wife and another couple as cover for his inquiry. The jury found the    sheriff innocent.

 
    Just as quickly as Hardcastle got back into office, state officials    said they were beginning an audit of the special investigative fund    controlled by Hardcastle and his chief deputy, Geoffrey Monge. The    audit showed that $ 171,596.50 was "unaccounted for" from 1978 through    1983.
 
    In their report to prosecutors, investigators said, they paid close    attention to a safe in Hardcastle's office where the cash was kept.
 
Investigators also launched audits of the personal finances of    Hardcastle and Monge.
 
    Monge, now Sarasota sheriff, turned over his personal records, kept    a log of investigative money he handled and agreed to take a lie    detector test, the report says.
 
    Hardcastle did none of that.
 
    But investigators documented that in three years, Hardcastle spent    more money than he made from "legitimate sources." His excess    spending ranged from $ 17,995 in 1979-80 to $ 5,157 in 1980-81. Thus,    investigators focused on a number of transactions in which they said    Hardcastle used cash from a source they could not document.
 
    For two years, Hardcastle's income exceeded his expenses, in part,    because of $ 14,000 in loans Hardcastle said he received from his    mother-in-law, a resident of England.
 
    But when authorities in England interviewed the woman, she said she    did not remember any such loan. She said she gave the Hardcastles about    $ 2,000 in 1978, about $ 3,200 in 1980 and about $ 800 in the summer of    1983.

 

 
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)


January 27, 1995, Friday, Tampa Edition


Sheriffs who ran afoul of the law

A number of Florida sheriffs have been accused of violating the law. They  include:

The former sheriff of Hendry County, Earl Sermon Dyess Jr., indicted on  federal drug smuggling charges and sentenced to 17 years in prison in 1993 for  trafficking in cocaine.

Dyess was accused of providing protection and  surveillance for Colombian smugglers.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Mauriece Coffman, indicted and removed from office  in 1992. Charged with racketeering, witness tampering, bribery, obstructing  justice and intimidating a witness, he pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor  charges and was given probation and a $ 10,000 fine.

Bay County Sheriff Lavelle Pitts, charged with perjury for allegedly lying to  a grand jury about sexual harassment charges in 1988. He was acquitted by  jurors.

Escambia County Sheriff Vince Seely, charged in 1987 with driving under the  influence, pleaded no contest.

Pasco County Sheriff John M. Short, charged with accepting unlawful  compensation and official misconduct in 1984, was acquitted by jurors in 1985.

Sarasota County Sheriff Jim Hardcastle was charged with grand theft in 1984  and acquitted by jurors.

Manatee County Sheriff Thomas Burton pleaded no contest to election law  violations in October 1984. 

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