Okaloosa County Sheriff Jailed

Florida Charlie Crist Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris has been arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly stealing money meant for federal programs.

by Debbie Williams

Published: Fri, February 27, 2009 - 5:31 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, February 27, 2009 - 6:57 pm CST

Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris faces several charges including theft, bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. According to federal investigators, Sheriff Morris would obtain federal grant money, sheriff's administrator Terry Adams would pay an employee that money as a bonus, and that employee would give most of the bonus back to Adams and Morris.

Click here to read the 15 page affidavit.

The sheriff is being returned to Florida to face federal court and the court of public opinion.

First elected in 1996, Charlie Morris is no longer Sheriff of Okaloosa County.
"I was raised a handshake was your bond. I regret that that isn't today anymore," says Okaloosa resident Dieter Landsberger.
News Morris had been removed from office and now faces federal charges drew a number of reactions.
"I'm just stunned, I couldn't believe it because I thought highly of him," says Norbert Engel of Shalimar.
"We're obligated to do what we're suppose to do but yet the person that is suppose to be enforcing it all doesn't," says Shalimar resident Brenda Sotomeija.
"It's normal here in America. I'm shocked they don't have morals no more. They don't all have a conscious no more," says Guido Walter as he walks out of the Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex.
Embarrassed, saddened, shocked a wide range of reactions from folks we spoke too. But one person was not surprised at all.
"Thumbs up! We finally got him," says a woman at the sheriff's office who only wants to be known as Patricia. She says she has been pushing for Morris' prosecution for seven years. "He got greedy, he wanted more," she says, and she believe gambling was his downfall.
"Had he put it to good use he would still have it. Unfortunately, Las Vegas has it, Atlantic City has it."
In the meantime, an interim sheriff has been named to lead the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and for the first time in more than a decade his name is not Charlie Morris.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist asked Ed Spooner to step in as interim sheriff.
Spooner comes from Quincy, Florida and is a former president of the police chief's association.

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Eyescrew Dupp Says:

Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 3:27 pm

The next Sheriff to be removed from office will be Sheriff David Harvey of Wakulla County FL if the Governor steps in there too.
On Friday Feb 22 2009, Sheriff Harvey was involved in a hit and run of a vehicle parked in a driveway and occupied by a mother and child. While Harvey admits he had had drinks earlier in the day, consipicuously, no field sobriety tests were issued.
Harvey’s long time friend and Colleague States Attorney Willie Meggs conducted the investigation against Harvey at the request of Harvey. Harvey receieved a stern slap on the wrists and was sent to bed without supper.
The people of Wakulla demand answers.