Officer sentenced for embezzlement
PORTSMOUTH,
Va. (WAVY) – An officer with the
Portsmouth Police Department has been sentenced to unsupervised probation for
his role in an embezzlement in 2011.
Robert
Anthony Murray, 38, was found guilty of misdemeanor embezzlement in January. He
was originally charged with one felony count of embezzlement, however, the
charge was reduced after a judge found no evidence to confirm the value of a
TV.
Murray
was sentenced to six months behind bars with all six months suspended,
according to a clerk with the Portsmouth Circuit Court. He was also sentenced
to two years unsupervised probation and fined $500. $250 of that was also
suspended.
Murray
must also serve 40 hours of community service and must pay the court costs.
Further
details surrounding the embezzlement were never released by police.
Police officer admits stealing TV set that was held
as evidence
Portsmouth, Va.
Maybe he needed it to watch "Law
& Order" re-runs.
Robert Anthony Murray, a 39-year-old cop
who served on a SWAT team in Portsmouth, was given a fine, community service
and a suspended prison sentence in an embezzlement case in which he admitted
that he stole a TV that had been seized as evidence. The TV was taken by police
as evidence in a gambling sting operation. When the charges were dropped, the
evidence was returned. Except that the TV was missing. Murray tried to hide his
theft before admitting that he had taken the TV.
As the truth of the story came out,
Murray resigned from the police department after 12 years on the force.