ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A former sheriff’s captain in northern Indiana has been charged with lying during an investigation into alleged wage theft by employees he supervised, just days after he resigned from the department.
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged James Bradberry, 49, with three counts of false informing. They allege the former captain concealed information about Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department employees who are accused of collecting $45,000 for hours they didn’t work between 2014 and 2017.
Online court records on Wednesday didn’t list a lawyer for Bradberry. He’s scheduled to appear before a court magistrate on March 29.
Bradberry initially told investigators and a grand jury in 2017 and 2018 that he wasn’t aware of employees claiming time they hadn’t work or taking long lunches or extended breaks, according to court records. He said workers never gave him a reason to scrutinize their work habits.
He then told a prosecutor in January that he knew more about the situation than he’d told investigators after three employees were indicted on felony theft charges in September, according to court documents.
Bradberry told the prosecutor’s office he was aware of employees saying the work environment was slow and encouraged them to pace themselves, according to court documents. Bradberry also cited an instance when an employee told him she was going to read a book during work hours.
He was placed on paid leave in January, pending the prosecutor’s investigation.
Bradberry resigned Friday, Sheriff Jeff Siegel said in a news release. Bradberry started as a corrections officer in 1989 and became captain of the Administrative Division in 2010.
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