LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas law enforcement supervisor has been fired and charged with theft of government funds after FBI agents caught him stealing more than $30,000 in a sting.
Court documents show former Greene County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Allen Scott Pillow was arrested Tuesday and released Wednesday.
An affidavit said federal agents posing as Tennessee officers asked Pillow to help in a narcotics raid in Paragould, Arkansas, on Monday. An agent planted a glass pipe and backpack containing $76,000 in an unattended car. The agents told Pillow they needed his help because the vehicle was parked out of their jurisdiction.
The officers, who met Pillow outside the vehicle, asked him to let them know how much money was in the backpack, according to the affidavit. The FBI then monitored Pillow through ground and air surveillance, while he left the parking lot with the items and drove to the sheriff’s office. He then went into the narcotics office and evidence storage area, the affidavit said.
Hours later, Pillow reported that the money amounted to just $45,600. Later that day, FBI agents saw Pillow drive to his home in Paragould.
FBI agents and law enforcement officers secured a search warrant for Pillow’s home on Tuesday. Pillow was checking his mailbox on the edge of the property when they arrived. Officers surrounded him with their unmarked cars.
Officer Joe Pickett of the Arkansas State Police, an FBI task force officer, identified himself and then patted Pillow down, feeling a large bundle in Pillow’s pocket, according to the affidavit of Agent Stephen Cupp. The object turned out to be a stack of money whose serial numbers matched the recorded serial numbers of the money in the backpack from the day before.
The officers also found a key in Pillow’s truck that unlocked a safe hidden inside a cooler in the attic of his garage, the affidavit states. Inside were bundles of bills with serial numbers that matched the money from the backpack.
The complaint charges Pillow with theft of government funds.
Greene County Sheriff Steve Franks said Wednesday that Pillow was fired.
