From the Roanoke Times, 9/19/07


A grand jury has indicted three former top officials with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for misusing state money in 2004.

Former director William Woodfin Jr. and former game warden Michael Caison each face two counts of misuse or misappropriation of state funds, while former game warden Terry Bradbery faces one count.

Each count is a felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

"These indictments by the grand jury reflect the commonwealth's continuing commitment to thoroughly investigate the prior financial activities at DGIF," Virginia Chief Deputy Attorney William Mims said in a prepared statement.

A 51-page state auditor's report released in May 2005 outlined numerous cases of fiscal improprieties, cronyism and retaliation within the upper levels of the agency, which manages Virginia's wildlife, freshwater fishing and boating programs.

Among other things, the audit questioned $11,532 Woodfin, Caison and Bradbery spent to outfit themselves for a September 2004 African safari, a trip largely bankrolled by Virginia Beach developer Daniel Hoffler, who was chairman of the agency's board of directors.

Woodfin retired effective June 1, 2005, just days after the report was made public.

Bradbery, former chief of the agency's Law Enforcement Division, and Caison, former assistant chief of the division, both retired the following spring.

Hoffler, who resigned his board position before the report was released, was faulted in the audit but not named in the indictment. In a statement, Hoffler said he was disappointed to hear of the indictments and said he had cooperated with the investigation.

"I sincerely hope this does not tarnish the reputation of the department, which is without question one of the best in the nation," he said.

Bradbery and Woodfin appeared in court Tuesday. Both were given $5,000 personal recognizance bonds.

Caison was served his two indictments Thursday, given a $5,000 personal recognizance bond and ordered not to leave Virginia.

All three are due back in court Nov. 5, when a trial date will be set.

Attorney Murray Janus, who is representing Bradbery, said his client plans to enter a plea of not guilty.

"I'm not aware that any law has been violated -- I just don't see the offense," Janus told The Associated Press. "The state is not out any money whatsoever. The trip was approved. There was no state time that was used."

Attorneys for the other men did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell, said no more indictments are anticipated in the case.

Jimmy Hazel, the board's current chairman, said in a statement that the agency's leaders had no comment regarding the indictments.

"This issue is now a matter for the courts," Hazel said.

In the summer of 2004, Woodfin, Bradbery and Caison requested state funding for a trip to Zimbabwe with Hoffler.

The officials claimed the trip would be beneficial to see how officials in Zimbabwe managed their wildlife resources.

When the request was denied, Hoffler, who had hunted previously in Zimbabwe, covered most of the costs of the safari. After the investigation began, board members chipped in more than $12,500 to cover disputed costs related to the trip.

In all, according to the audit, Hoffler gave Woodfin, Caison and Bradbery gifts worth $50,000.

The safari and other questionable spending came to light after activists Lee and Paulette Albright of Montebello used the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to request agency financial records in the fall of 2004.

The Albrights had started seeking information from the agency a couple of years earlier because they disputed the DGIF's claim that financial difficulties were forcing the closure of the Montebello fish hatchery to visitors.

What started out as a simple request for information on the hatchery situation grew more sweeping as the couple felt the agency was being dismissive of their requests.

The couple eventually obtained roughly 3,000 pages of documents showing agency leaders' spending history.

"We had no idea it was that serious," Lee Albright said Thursday.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch published a story on Christmas Day 2004 detailing the questionable spending, and the state auditor's office soon began its investigation. After the audit report was released, state officials announced a criminal investigation.

But when two years passed without action, Albright grew more concerned.

"We were wondering if anything would ever happen," he said.

Further complicating the issue, public records showed that Hoffler and his company, Armada Hoffler, contributed $12,500 each to Attorney General Bob McDonnell's campaign in late 2005.

Several months later McDonnell ceded authority on the case to Mims, who addressed the length of the investigation in his statement.

"Based on the report submitted by the State Internal Auditor in 2005, the Office of the Attorney General, in conjunction with the Virginia State Police and Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, has systematically and exhaustively investigated this matter to determine if criminal conduct occurred," Mims said. "The time frame of the investigation spanned a five-year period from 1999 to 2004 with many thousands of pages of records being reviewed and numerous interviews being conducted."

The department, whose annual budget is about $45 million raised primarily through license sales and from federal funding, has changed procedures in the wake of the audit.

Many of the changes were implemented under the watch of retired state police superintendant Gerald Massengill, who served as the agency's interim director after Woodfin's ouster until Carlton Courter took over in November.

Among the many changes, fiscal oversight has been tightened in an effort to better track who is spending money and what they're buying.

Staff writer Michael Sluss, Warren Fiske of The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

quote:

"I sincerely hope this does not tarnish the reputation of the department, which is without question one of the best in the nation," he said.

now instead of everyone thinking they are assholes they will think they are thiefs.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:

quote:

"I sincerely hope this does not tarnish the reputation of the department, which is without question one of the best in the nation," he said.

now instead of everyone thinking they are assholes they will think they are thiefs.

+1

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Walt