Oklahoma sheriff charged with embezzlement after investigation of $31,099 purchase of UTV
McALESTER — Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris has been charged with embezzlement of state property.
He is accused in the felony case of unlawfully arranging for the sheriff's office to purchase a damaged utility task vehicle (UTV) he had owned so he could get a new one for himself.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking into the $31,099 purchase after the county clerk became suspicious.
Morris, 50, of McAlester, was first elected in 2016 as sheriff of Pittsburg County, which is in southeast Oklahoma. He was reelected in 2020 and is running for reelection again now. He was a Democrat in his first race but is now a Republican.
He was charged Tuesday in Pittsburg County District Court. He denies wrongdoing.
"Election interference is not only happening in our great nation, but it is happening right here in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma," he said in a release to the media. "This is an orchestrated event, planned to make me look bad just weeks before the election. The truth will come out. It is paramount that you keep a strong sheriff with proven leadership for our county."
Making the decision to file the charge was Jack Thorp, a district attorney from northeast Oklahoma. The prosecutor alleges the county had no need for the 2023 Polaris UTV.
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A sheriff's dispatcher told OSBI agents the sheriff had said "he ... didn't like his Polaris side by side because it had already broken down and he needed to find a way to get out from under it," according to a court affidavit.
The dispatcher recalled the sheriff also said he wanted to purchase a Can-Am but the dealership, Vicar Powersports, "had only offered him $26,000 trade value on the Polaris," according to the affidavit. "A few weeks later Morris had purchased the Polaris for the Sheriff's Office and received the new Can-Am."
He eventually was able to negotiate a trade-in value of $31,099 on the Polaris, the investigation found. He had purchased the UTV in August for $29,772.
He is specifically accused in the charge of telling the dealership he had increased its value by adding a lift kit and other accessories when actually they had been taken off.
Dealer Jon Vicars told the OSBI he did not know the accessories had been removed because the sheriff never brought the vehicle back, according to the affidavit.
The county sent the dealership a check for the Polaris in December, according to the affidavit. The title later was backdated to show a November sale.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris charged with embezzlement
