Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jun 2003
Source: Dispatch, The (NC)
Copyright: 2003, The Lexington Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.the-dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1583
Author: William Keesler, The Dispatch
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

HEGE PROBE FOCUSES ON MONEY, CRIME STATS AND POLITICS

Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege is being investigated for how he
has handled money and reported crime and whether he has let politics
interfere with his enforcement of the law, people interviewed by the
State Bureau of Investigation say.

Among other things, SBI agents are asking about the finances of Hege's
Blue Line Foundation and of the county DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) program during his administration and about how he has
spent drug-forfeiture funds obtained from county government for
conducting drug investigations, people interviewed say.

As employees of the agency that compiles the annual state crime
report, SBI agents also are asking if the sheriff has mislabeled
crimes in the county so he can claim a 62 percent reduction in crime
since he took office.

Agents further are asking if Hege directed detectives to place the
investigation of the disappearance of former Davidson County Museum of
Art Director Mark Alley on the back burner because Alley's father
supported Roy Holman, Hege's Democratic opponent, in last year's election.

One former deputy said he was asked, "Was I ever ordered to do any
changing of records? I said no."

Hege, who has been traveling for the past week and remained out of the
office this morning, could not be reached for comment.

Investigators almost certainly are asking about additional issues, but
former and current sheriff's office employees and others confirmed
only these subjects in interviews over the past week with The
Dispatch. All agreed to newspaper interviews only on the condition
that their names not be revealed.

A number of other former or current employees or associates of the
sheriff refused to say if they had been questioned by the SBI or, if
they had been questioned, to discuss what was asked. One person said
the SBI asked him not to discuss his questioning with news reporters.

More than 15 investigators, mostly from the SBI, arrived at the
courthouse June 10, to begin questioning Hege's employees at the
request of District Attorney Garry Frank. Just over a week later, at
least two agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation spent a day
sitting in on SBI interviews.

State and federal agents and prosecutors have refused to comment on
the investigation. Frank has said the probe stems partly from the
investigation of Ron Richardson, the former county public buildings
director, who resigned in January but has not been charged with a
crime. Hege and his wife, Geri, started the Blue Line Foundation in
1999 to assist law enforcement officers who have been injured or
killed in the line of duty or who may be experiencing extreme
hardships. According to its Web site, the foundation has provided more
than $120,000 in aid to officers or their families in North Carolina
and other states. Recipients include the family of former Davidson
County Deputy Todd Cook, who was shot to death in the line of duty in
January 2000.

Hege's office has employed several officers during his tenure to
conduct DARE classes in county elementary and middle schools. The
effort has been funded partly by the sale of Hege posters, action
figures and other memorabilia related to the sheriff. That has led to
criticism that Hege has used the DARE program to promote himself
politically.

Questions about the sheriff's use of drug-forfeiture funds arose in
1999 when he used $26,350 obtained from county government for a drug
investigation to purchase a pair of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Money
seized in county drug investigations goes to the state and federal
governments and then comes back to the county for use in further
investigations to buy drugs or pay confidential informants. The county
commissioners auctioned the motorcycles on the steps of the
governmental center, but then-County Attorney Joe Biesecker, who
investigated the matter, said he found insufficient evidence to prove
a corrupt or willful intent by the sheriff that would justify criminal
charges.

The annual crime report prepared by the SBI shows a major decrease in
crime in the county since Hege first won election as sheriff in 1994 -
a statistic the sheriff has attributed to his tough approach to law
enforcement. However, the SBI numbers are based on figures it receives
from the sheriff's office. Critics of the sheriff have often
questioned those numbers.

Alley, then 32, the director of the former county art museum,
disappeared Feb. 2, 2000, shortly after being questioned about $14,725
missing from the museum's accounts. Members of his family have
repeatedly pushed for a more aggressive investigation by the sheriff's
office, but three years later, Alley's whereabouts remain unknown.

Alley's father, Dale Alley, declined to comment on reports that Hege
discouraged a detective from helping him because he placed a Holman
campaign sign in his yard during last year's election. When family
members held a balloon launch this past February to remind the public
about the search, the sheriff refused to let his investigators discuss
the case with The Dispatch.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake