Ex-deputy accused of pawning sheriff’s equipment
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) – A former Jackson County Sheriff’s deputy faces embezzlement charges for allegedly pawning more than $10,000 worth of equipment owned by the sheriff’s office.
WLOX-TV reports Sheriff Mike Ezell said 55-year-old Alexander Herman Kieper Jr., of Biloxi, was arrested last week. He served 18 years before resigning in 2011.
Ezell says Dad’s Super Pawn in Gulfport contacted his department on June 26 to report suspicious equipment had been pawned there. Investigators determined the sheriff’s office had purchased the equipment – two spotting scopes, two lenses for the scopes and two tripods – in 2009. Ezell says the equipment was assigned to Kieper when he worked there and was never placed in inventory.
Ezell says his department is reviewing inventory control procedures to make sure all purchased equipment is accounted for.
