3/27/2013
Your Honor, I am here today at the request of the People of
Franklin County. I have been approached
repeatedly by citizens and employees of our county to represent them at this
proceeding in my capacity as the elected County Auditor. Today is about justice and courage. Justice for the people of Franklin County
and courage for this Court to see this crime for what it was: a brazen, calculating,
manipulative and well managed 22 year assault on the people of Franklin
County through their government. There
is also a deep desire on behalf of the citizens that approached me that you, as
Judge, will understand in your sentencing decision that the people don’t think
this is just a “property crime” and that they are tired of the ongoing assault on
them by criminals that rob the government and then play on the courts sense of
mercy.
This fraud was
brazen, calculating, manipulative and well managed.
Brazen: The fraud started by his own admission in
1990 while on the job for less than a year (and likely still on parole for a similar fraud against
the BLM). Our records indicate he filled
out 3 to 5 invoices a month, every month, year after year, decade after decade. It appears that for 22 years, every 5 to 10
days we were brazenly robbed.
Calculating: Having pulled off the largest and longest
fraud in Washington State history per SAO investigators, one thing Dennis is
not short on is intelligence and cunning.
Dennis was part of the church community frequented by the County employees
and electeds. Through the years he built
a reputation as a generous, kind member, giving our money to people for things like rent or burial costs. He worked on Commissioner and Auditor
campaigns managing their campaign finances, knocking on doors and giving our
money as campaign donations. He used his
family by helping them get jobs in positions of trust in the Auditor and
Treasure offices. He even had a plan in
case he was caught. He transferred the
family home into his wife’s name in the early 1990’s. I even had a women come to me at my daughter’s
basketball game and tell me how back in
the 1990’s he bought girl scout cookies
with what seemed like an odd check but she just assumed he had a side
business: it was a Critzer/Doyle Brother
Construction check.
Manipulative : Aside from building a position of trust with
key supervisors and county management.
Dennis used the sympathy of others to manipulate them. When a person suspecting his crimes reported
to authorities, it resulted in an FBI
investigation. Did he come clean? No. He
immediately used the good will he had accumulated and played on peoples’
sympathies. Emotionally telling people, and
I quote: “How many times am I going to pay for my past mistakes?” It appears he then studied how to beat a lie
detector test and headed into an interview with the FBI telling them he was
reformed and “focuses on family, church, mentoring kids and other charity work,
something he has done for years to re-establish his reputation” he added that
he “doesn’t drink, hasn’t taken drugs in 24 years”, nor does he have a gambling
problem because he limits himself to losses of $100. He even made follow- up calls to FBI after he
failed the test to continue to manipulate people. All the while, that same year, he robbed the
county of $152,000, using 3 to 5 fraudulent invoices a month, each and every
month. To top it off, when the investigation was unsuccessful, he then filed a
defamation lawsuit in an effort to destroy the person who tried to expose his
grift and he paid his lawyers with our money.
Well managed:
This crime was not done by a person gripped by the demons of addiction. It went on for 22 years and as I have
describe had way to much routine: 3 to 5 invoices a month for decades; and planning: joining community groups, using
family relationships, working on campaigns, transferring assets and lastly, the ugliness
of intimidation through the frivolous lawsuit.
Consequences – A crime of this Magnitude is
far more than a property crime: and
while the courts are quick to say its was not a violent crime, the people might
argue that point
The
human cost of this crime is unknowable because it never happened. Let me say it
again the human cost is unknowable because it is hard to measure what never
happened. Franklin County has the 4th
poorest populace in Washington state with 20+% living below the poverty
line. The average pay for a worker in
the county is by one account $24K a year - an amount stolen every couple of
months in this crime. I calculated the time
value of money stolen in this crime and using $14,500 per month at 7% for 22
years would amount to $9.7 million dollars today.
An
article in the TCH reported on the bail being reduced in this case from $50,000
to $10,000 and quoted the judge as saying he “…. understood why his colleague
initially made that decision but added that $10,000 cash or bond is fair since
this is a property crime and not a violent crime against a person” . The
reduced amount of bail is less than the amount of one of the hundreds of
invoices submitted over the past decade.
Courage
This
is where the courage comes in, because the people who approached me could
hardly disagree more. Many people were
incredulous that he was allowed out to “hide and bury the money”.
On
the point about property crime let me ask this:
If a person steals the wheels off of an ambulance, rendering it unable
to respond to an emergency resulting in added injury or death of a citizen
would you Judge call that a property crime?
Or should the the criminal have known that stealing ambulance tires are
not the same as other tires? Now what if
they stole those ambulance tires over and over for 22 years?
You
see Judge, this largest and longest fraud in state history changed the
trajectory of Franklin County forever.
What about the deputies that weren’t hired, safety equipment that was
not purchased, Mental health services that were not delivered, youth that were
released early or did not get the services that they needed? I could go on and on about what didn’t happen.
The
reality for many of those that work for the county know that while government
service shrank and people were laid off, he continued to steal. The hard working employees of this county
have not seen a cost of living increase in 4 years because of our financial
straits. This is most certainly not a property crime but an assault on the
individuals that make up this county.
Finally
please begin the process here today of restoring the peoples’ faith in their local
government. This largest and longest
fraud in State history has a sentence range of up to 25 years, and the AG is
only recommending 15. Why? It’s the largest and longest fraud, shouldn’t
this crime receive the top of the sentencing range?
People
asked me to speak today, but many said it won’t do any good. There is so much cynisim, people don’t
believe in their government anymore, and why should they? If you stop at 15 years, the top of the AG
request, he is out in 8 for good behavior and essentially made $350,000 a year
stealing from people who make $24,000.00. That is not justice. Have the courage to see to it that crime
doesn’t pay in Franklin County WA.
For additional information regarding the Huston sentencing check out the Tri-City Herald article http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/03/27/2331438/huston-sentenced-to-16-years.html
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