Posted on 05/29/2009 2:58:14 AM PDT by csvset
NORFOLK
A Newport News police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony embezzlement charge.
Thomas D. Crouch was accused of taking money from a Police Emerald Society of Tidewater account that held fund raising money, according to a summary of evidence submitted to the court. Crouch, who was president of the society from September 2007 to June 2008, admitted to members that he took more than $5,400 because he had fallen on financial hard times.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Crouch must resign from the Newport News Pol ice and return the money by June 10.
His sentencing hearing has been delayed for two years. During that time Crouch must remain on good behavior, must not work in law enforcement, and must not try to obtain any law enforcement certifications. If he abides by those conditions, the circuit judge will vacate the guilty finding on the felony charge and instead will convict Crouch of a misdemeanor and give him a one-year suspended jail sentence.
If he does not abide by the terms of the plea agreement, he will retain the felony conviction and be sentenced by a judge.
Crouch remained on paid administrative leave on Thursday, according to Officer Holly McPherson, Newport News police spokeswoman.
Resign...not fired? That means he’ll be patrolling your town soon.
Not for two years. And that’s a sweet deal considering its theft over $5000, he could be rotting in a jail with the people he put in there. Should count himself lucky the judge took pity on him.
It’s OK, he’s a cop - he’s one of the “good” guys. I really hate corrupt law enforcement. I speak from experience with 22 years active duty LE and 8 years training. There are some REALY good LE people out there and about 5% are real scumbags, worse than the criminals.
Some reports have this guy listed as a police detective. I wonder how much crime details he has actually detected. He looks very compromised.
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