A former county judge pleaded guilty to charges that include forgery and theft after authorities discovered county property on his Arkansas farm, court records show.
It began in June 2015, when David Charles Sherrell, 58, approached a truck company to buy two dump trucks for the Izard County Road Department, according to an affidavit from Arkansas State Police.
Sherrell, who was then serving as the county judge in Izard County, told the company to raise the price of the trucks to include the price of a trailer, valued around $7,250, authorities said. His son-in-law, Matt Orf, later reportedly sold the same trailer to the county for $9,250.
In the same month, Sherrell purchased two road graders valued at $143,000 using an invoice for one road grader valued at $163,000, keeping one at his home until he lost his re-election bid, according to the affidavit. Paul Shuttleworth, a salesman at Stribling Equipment, later told authorities that he knew the invoice was fraudulent but signed it “for fear of losing the sales."
During this same period, Sherrell bought a bulldozer the county was never able to use and thousands of dollars wroth of tools, some of which he delivered to the county and some of which he dropped off at his farm, authorities said.
Sherrell, who pleaded guilty to criminal use of property, theft of property and two counts of forgery, was sentenced to six years in prison, documents show.
He must also reportedly pay $35,000 in restitution to Izard County. Records show he served as county judge from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2016.
Orf and Shuttleworth have also been charged: Orf with criminal use of property, and Shuttleworth with second-degree forgery. They are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 22.
