PARAGOULD, Ark. (AP) - A former sheriff’s lieutenant in northeast Arkansas has pleaded guilty to a federal theft charge after authorities accused him of stealing more than $30,000 in a sting drug operation.
Allen Scott Pillow, 56, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of theft of government funds.
According to federal prosecutors, the FBI set up a fake drug operation after receiving information that Pillow might be abusing his role as a lieutenant at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
In November, FBI agents put a rented vehicle with a glass drug pipe and a backpack containing $76,000 in a parking lot in Paragould, then asked Pillow to search it as part of an alleged drug operation, prosecutors said. According to court records, Pillow searched the vehicle and reported to the FBI that he found the pipe and about $45,000 in cash.
Authorities eventually found most of the missing cash in a safe at Pillow’s home, court records show.
Pillow faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.