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All Muck is Local: Virginia Officials Bag African Safari, Indictments
Who knew having the state help pay for a transatlantic hunting trip could come back to haunt you?
This past Thursday, Virginia's attorney general unsealed indictments against three former top officials from the state's Game and Wildlife Fisheries Agency. William Woodfin Jr., the agency's former director, and former game wardens Michael Caison and Terry Bradbery face a combined five counts of misspending government funds.
Officially, the indictments don’t spell out the circumstances under which the men misused the funds; it only states that the crimes occurred sometime between 2003 and 2004. However, a state audit released in 2005 was highly critical of the general infighting and cronyism amid the department’s top officials. The audit harped on one spending item in particular: an African safari.
Okay, so the department didn’t entirely finance a safari trip to Zimbabwe for Woodfin, Caison and Bradbery. Rather, Dan Hoffler --a former chairman of the department’s oversight board-- paid for most of the trip, suggesting that it would be a learning experience (and Hoffler came along too). But the three men did use state credit cards to pick up a few of the extra costs along the way, such as: rifle bags, digital cameras, four DVD players (always crucial on a hunting trip), and a satellite phone that they used to call their families. All told, Virginia taxpayers ended up footing $11,532 in “trip expenses.”
All three men have expressed through their lawyers that they intend to plead not guilty to the charges. And it's apparent that the 2005 state audit, which was turned over to investigators years ago, is what’s at issue in the indictments. Bradbery’s lawyer told reporters “the state is not out any money whatsoever. This (Africa) trip was approved.” Hoffler, who will not face charges for his role in the affair, admitted to cooperating with the investigation and said he was “extremely disappointed” in the indictments.
Comments (7)
anonymouse wrote on September 23, 2007 11:58 AM:Look as though they were allowed to retire before they were indicted. We wouldn't want them to lose their retiremeent just because they were misappropriating funds while working for the taxpayers now, would we?
33lp wrote on September 23, 2007 5:47 PM:What are their respective political affiliations (especially Woodfin)? After all the myriad Republican scandals, all sorts of inaccurate inferences may be assumed by readers in the absence of such notations.
Scott Urbanczyk wrote on September 23, 2007 10:16 PM:The penalties for statesman/politician's that use public monies to supplement their way of life should be crudely harsh. They should be above and beyond felony status and involve lifetime abolishment from public service. I don't care how small the finances in question are--a guilty verdict should result in a disgrace beyond measure. Taking advantage of the public trust is inexcusable!!
Johann wrote on September 23, 2007 10:50 PM:"it only states that the crimes occurred sometime between 2003 and 2004."
Please.
Since there was no elapsed time between 2003 and 2004, don't they mean this occurred between the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2005? i.e. sometime during 2003 and/or 2004?
regular lurker wrote on September 23, 2007 11:30 PM:Can we send them to jail for 30 years? After all, it's much worse than what Governor Siegelman was accused of.
Anonymous wrote on September 24, 2007 8:02 AM:There was so much more than what has been listed here. A $600 stereo system for a state vehicle listed as a 'Security System'. Use of a state vehicle for a private business. Abuse of power. The former chairman, Dan Hoffler, was just as bad. I am still scratching my head wondering how a large real estate developer wound up in charge of a department with a primary goal of conservation and is one of the largest controllers of undeveloped land in the state of Virginia.
environmental historian wrote on September 24, 2007 12:06 PM:Just one example of the way they ran the agency: The employees were instructed not to talk to the board members when they came to the agency for Board meetings.
This agency has a long history. Way back in the 1920s, when it had responsibility for water pollution control in the state, it was headed by Willis Robertson, the future US Senator and father of Pat Robertson.