U.S. Attorney’s Office February 12, 2014 Southern District of Ohio (937) 225-2910
COLUMBUS—Former Columbus Police Officer Steven Edward Dean, 49, of
Columbus, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to misappropriating and selling
heavy equipment and other property the Columbus Division of Police received
through a Department of Defense surplus program.
Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
Ohio; Kevin Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI); Brian Reihms, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative
Service (DCIS); and Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs announced the pleas
entered today before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson.
According to court documents, an investigation by the Columbus
Division of Police, the FBI and DCIS concluded that between October 1, 2005 and
June 1, 2012, Dean diverted property with a fair market value of $251,570.94
the police department had received from the Defense Reutilization Marketing
Office (DRMO) program.
The embezzled items included $133,554.59 of heavy equipment,
construction equipment, and vehicles; restaurant equipment; $94,163.25 of
materials sold for scrap; and $16,353.15 worth of items, including diesel
generators, sold to private persons. This conclusion was based on records
obtained from the U.S. Department of Defense DRMO program, the state of Ohio
offices involved with the DRMO program, scrapyard receipts, Craigslist online
point-of-sale website records, restaurant supply records of sold equipment, and
by viewing the items of property themselves.
Dean pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a program
receiving federal funds and one count of theft of public property. Each crime
carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, but the plea agreement
specifies that the sentences should be groups and not imposed consecutively.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Dean will forfeit $251,570.94 less the value
of the recovered equipment.
Judge Watson will schedule a sentencing hearing following a
pre-sentence investigation by the court.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation by DCIS, the
FBI, and CPD, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Doug Squires and Deborah
Solove, who are representing the United States in this case.