OKLAHOMA CITY – Over an 11-year period a Payne County Sheriff’s Office employee charged taxpayers $137,698 for her personal expenses, “including, literally, the kitchen sink,” State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd announced last January.
Linda Gail Farley, formerly an administrative assistant in the Payne County S.O., has been ordered to pay back that much and more.
Farley, 62, pleaded guilty in Payne County District Court to eight felony charges: six counts of embezzlement and two counts of making a false entry relating to expenditure of public funds.
Associate District Judge Michael Kulling gave Farley a suspended 26-year prison sentence: half a dozen concurrent six-year terms for embezzlement and two concurrent 20-year sentences for making bogus entries pertaining to expenditures of public funds.
However, Kulling ordered Farley to pay $208,708 in restitution and $3,784 in court costs, plus a $960 prosecutorial reimbursement fee payable to the Payne County District Attorney’s Office. In addition, she spent 42 days incarcerated in the county jail prior to her sentencing last year, records reflect.
A forensic audit uncovered the “misappropriated and questioned” expenditures by Farley, SA&I Byrd wrote. Farley paid for hotel rooms, vinyl flooring, car repairs, and other personal items with tax dollars, the audit showed.
Byrd credited County Clerk Glenna Craig and Sheriff Joe Harper with discovering the malfeasance in November 2021 “shortly after Harper took office...” Craig and Harper “alerted Payne County Commissioners, who immediately took action by requesting this investigation,” Byrd said. District Attorney Laura Thomas “later revised the request and expanded the scope for the time frame.”
Farley is accused of misappropriating $82,176 between July 2010 and November 2021 by using a Sheriff’s Office credit card and submitting altered and/or fabricated invoices for payment, the audit found.
More than $55,522 of her purchases were designated as questioned costs “because, although the purchases appear improper, they went through the payment process and were approved by an authorized official,” Byrd explained.
“This employee was allowed to operate with impunity because she was given a signature stamp by the previous administrations. She used the stamps to forge signatures on payroll claims and purchase orders,” Byrd said.
“Our team of investigators “worked long hours to thoroughly review 13 years’ worth of financial records.”
Ironically, the State Auditor and Inspector’s office has conducted training sessions for years “on the proper use of signature stamps,” Byrd noted.
“We have advised and encouraged government officials across Oklahoma to restrict access to their signature stamps. In this case, it would appear our advice and encouragement was ignored.”
The final audit report was delivered to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Payne County D.A.’s office, and at some point Farley was fired. Forensic audit findings Among the state audit findings: The altered invoices reflected payments made for the benefit of Farley and her family, including car maintenance and hotel stays and car maintenance. A copy of one invoice signed by Farley reflects $150 worth of repairs performed on her daughter’s vehicle, a 2017 SUV.
• Between FY 2016 and FY 2022, Farley used the Payne County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) credit card to pay for hotel rooms for her personal use 16 times, then altered the hotel invoices to reflect that a different PCSO employee had stayed at the hotel.
One invoice provided by the vendor lists Farley as the customer traveling for “pleasure.” An altered version of the same invoice, submitted by Farley and paid by the county, indicates a sheriff’s deputy incurred the charge for “Work.”
• Farley made unauthorized purchases totaling $5,302 at Lowe’s and Best Buy, records reflect. The audit report includes photocopies of receipts from non-PCSO purchases she made of a farmhouse sink ($379.05) and vinyl tile flooring ($236.88).
• From April 2017 through June 2020, 18 purchase orders totaling $54,459 were issued in the name of Farley’s son for work that was not performed. PCSO management was interviewed and stated that the work described was not performed by Farley’s son at the PCSO locations noted on the questioned purchase orders and invoices.
A dozen of those purchase orders were requisitioned using the Sheriff’s signature stamp, which Farley maintained at her desk. Farley completed and signed the receiving reports for all 18 of the purchases. She also signed the warrant register for 16 of the warrants, confirming that she picked up the warrants from the County Clerk’s office. Three warrants were deposited into the same bank account that Farley used for her payroll direct deposits.
• Between July 2010 and April 2021, unauthorized credit card purchases totaling $22,703 were made by Farley and paid for by the county. These items could not be located in the PCSO, Byrd reported, so they were deemed “to not be for a county purpose. “
Farley was an authorized buyer on multiple credit cards and charge accounts and maintained the credit cards within her office. She made purchases using the credit cards during office hours as well as on weekends and holidays, receipts showed.
• Farley made $17,400 in unauthorized purchases at Walmart that were not for the use of the PCSO or the county jail.
PCSO management was presented with a list of the questionable items and assisted in determining what items were not for the operation of the office. Items that were frequently purchased by Farley and were deemed to not be for PCSO operations “included but were not limited to: protein bars/ drinks, kitchen utensils, clothing items, bathroom furnishings, bedding, kids’ items, decorations, and vitamins.”
• Farley’s pay exceeded her authorized salary over a seven- year period, resulting in questioned costs of $20,282.
Payne County’s Personnel Policy handbook states that administrative positions are exempt from overtime pay. Although Farley “served as the office manager in an administrative exempt position,” she nevertheless received overtime compensation with the approval of county officials, the state auditor reported.
Furthermore, Farley signed an Employee Personnel Policy Handbook Acknowledgement Form in April 2012 and April 2018.
• The Payne County Sheriff’s Office purchased fuel using ComData charge cards. Each vehicle was assigned a fuel card and each deputy was assigned a unique ID and PIN number.
“Based on the evidence presented, the spare fuel card was held by Farley and assigned to a fictitious vehicle,” the state audit revealed. Between FY 2011 and FY 2022, $35,239 of questioned costs were expended on the spare fuel card, the audit showed.
Farley used the spare fuel card while traveling, records show. In at least three instances the card was used at fuel stations in Tulsa at the same time Farley charged hotel stays in Tulsa to the PCSO credit card.
One invoice, for a personal hotel stay in Arlington, Texas, was “incurred by Farley and improperly paid with the PCSO credit card,” Byrd found. The dates of the hotel stay correlate with a fuel receipt charged in Denton, Texas, using the spare fuel card.
The spare fuel card was last used the day before Farley was placed on administrative leave “and has not been located since her termination,” Byrd wrote. “The current office administration stated there was rarely a need for a spare fuel card and one has not been used” since Farley was fired.