PASCO — Years ago, Franklin County officials kept on an accountant despite knowing he had a previous conviction of embezzling money. Now Dennis M. Huston is accused of stealing more than $2.8 million from the county to support his cocaine and gambling habits,
A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that a nine-month FBI investigation in 2009 found Huston revealed his past to his new boss in 1989 after his probation officer threatened to tell the county if Huston didn’t do it himself, The Tri-City Herald reported Sunday.
But road department supervisors, reportedly after conferring with county commissioners, decided Huston could stay on as the department’s accountant.
Huston’s supervisor at the time “didn’t view it as a great situation, but decided to take a wait-and-see attitude,” said an FBI report.
The supervisor told FBI investigators that Huston was doing good work and he believed there were “enough checks and balances” in place that Huston’s past wouldn’t be a problem. So, the county extended his probation from six months to a year.
“There was also some legal concerns among county commissioners about firing him after the fact when he was doing a good job, particularly because Franklin County had been sued for past practices by union employees who had been laid off,” the former employee told the FBI.
Huston went on to become the public works accounting and administrative director.
He is scheduled to appear Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court in connection with a theft scheme he allegedly started less than a year after he was hired.
Huston, 65, is charged with first-degree theft, money laundering and cocaine possession. He told Pasco police that he used the money to support his $100-a-day cocaine habit and for gambling, court documents show.
Huston’s attorney John Jensen declined last week to talk about the specific allegations. He said he’s concerned that it will be difficult to get a fair trial in Franklin County.
Huston had worked for the county for 10 months when he opened a bank account in the name of a Spokane company and allegedly began charging Franklin County for equipment and parts it would never receive, according to court documents.
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