Former Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck pleaded no contest Friday to a misdemeanor tampering charge and received six months on probation and a $500 fine.
He appeared in court Friday afternoon. The plea was under an agreement Cradduck’s attorney Drew Miller reached with Jason Barrett, special prosecutor.
Cradduck was originally charged with tampering with public documents, a Class D felony, and tampering, a Class A misdemeanor. Barrett agreed to drop the felony in exchange for Cradduck’s plea to the misdemeanor.
Barrett was appointed to handle the case after Nathan Smith, Benton County’s prosecuting attorney, recused from the case and requested a special prosecutor to handle the investigation concerning allegations that Cradduck ordered payroll records for Gabriel Cox to altered to show a hiring date earlier than when he actually started working.
Cradduck previously said he was attempting to help Cox by hiring him to work in the jail. Cox was living with Cradduck at the time, according to court documents.
Cox was fired after Rogers police arrested him in connection with misdemeanor drug charges.
Cradduck was also accused of asking his administrative assistant to lie to state police about the investigation.
Cradduck was defeated in the Republican primary March 1. He later agreed to resign if the Benton County Quorum Court agreed to pay $80,000 for his salary for the remainder of the year.
Cradduck’s tenure at the Sheriff’s Office officially came to an end Thursday when Meyer Gilbert was sworn in to serve the remaining months of Cradduck’s term, which ends Dec. 31.