Audit: Trash revenue short $62,607

Ex-Yell County supervisor charged; October trial set

Sanitation fee revenue of $62,607 is missing in Yell County, and the former sanitation supervisor has been charged with felony theft, according to a state audit.

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Lance Wilkins, 45, of Danville resigned May 14 and was charged July 9 with theft of property, tampering with a public record and abuse of office.

Wilkins pleaded innocent. Trial is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Yell County Circuit Court in Danville.

Tom Tatum II of Danville, prosecutor for the 15th Judicial Circuit, citing a conflict of interest, filed a motion on Tuesday requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case. But a special prosecutor has yet to be appointed.

The money was missing over a time period of more than two years -- from Jan. 1, 2013, through April 30, 2015, according to a letter from June M. Barron, Arkansas' deputy legislative auditor. The letter was sent to the Yell County Quorum Court and to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee.

Jerry McCarty of Legislative Audit notified Capt. John M. Foster Jr. of the Yell County sheriff's office that $19,670 in cash deposits were missing and $42,937 in charges by Vaughn Trash Service of Dardanelle weren't deposited or accounted for, according to Foster's July 1 affidavit for an arrest warrant.

Dogan Vaughn, owner of Vaughn Trash Service, produced receipts showing he had paid $41,720 in cash and checks to dump trash at transfer stations, according to Foster's report. Vaughn was charged $30 per load.

The county has transfer stations in Danville and Dardanelle, and Waste Management has a landfill near Centerville.

Wilkins told investigators that he falsified records to help cover up the extent of Vaughn's debt, which was in the tens of thousands of dollars.

When asked why he would do that, Wilkins cited politics and said he spoke to Yell County Judge Mark Thone about Vaughn's debt.

"Wilkins said that Thone stopped him and said that before he went any further Thone wanted Wilkins to know that Vaughn was 'kin' to him," according to Foster's affidavit. "Wilkins said, 'So I left it alone.'"

But Thone told investigators that he told Wilkins not to let Vaughn's charges "get carried away."

When contacted by telephone on Friday, Thone said he couldn't talk about the case but he is a second or third cousin to Vaughn.

Wilkins told investigators that Vaughn didn't know anything about the falsified records.

Wilkins said he took no money for himself. Wilkins said he didn't need money, and he didn't spend much money.

"He said that the only things he did were golf and drink beer and mentioned that he didn't buy a lot of guns or go on gambling trips," according to Foster's affidavit.

Foster wrote that Wilkins gave "contradictory statements" during his interview. Wilkins initially denied any wrongdoing, then later said he had altered business records to conceal Vaughn's debt.

"Wilkins gave varying accounts of why he did this, none of which appeared plausible or logical," Foster wrote.

"After Vaughn's production of tickets which appear to represent payments actually made in an amount relatively close to the amount not deposited, it would appear that Wilkins altered the records not in an attempt to conceal debt but instead in an attempt to conceal missing funds," Foster wrote. "Wilkins, however, denied taking any funds."

Metro on 09/05/2015

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