Details emerge about forestry worker

Local News

August 6, 2009

By Kandra Wells The McAlester News-Capital Thu Aug 06, 2009, 10:09 AM CDT

A local Conservation District director charged with using government property for personal use was suspended earlier this year for similar misconduct as a forest ranger.

Aaron K. Grey, 47, of Blanco, was suspended April 15 to May 29 for double billing the state for forestry work he also did for a local ranch. He used a state truck to feed his cattle, too, according to his suspension notice from Oklahoma Agriculture Commissioner Terry Peach.

Grey was charged in June with felony embezzlement of $470.24 in goods and services for using state equipment for personal jobs. A Sept. 16 preliminary hearing is scheduled for Grey in Pittsburg County District Court on three counts of embezzlement.

Grey, who is free on bail, has declined to discuss the charges. He has been a Forest Resource Protection Specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry since 1991. He is also director of the Talihina Conservation District, and was elected as one of five board members for the district’s governing board in 2001.

Peach suspended Grey from his job with the Department of Agriculture without pay from April 15 to May 29.

A copy of the suspension letter was obtained by the McAlester News-Capital this week through a Freedom Of Information Act request. It cites three actions of misconduct:

• Use of his state pickup truck to feed cattle and for other personal business.

• Using a state truck on state time March 5 “to make recommendations related to a controlled burn on lands owned by Lindmark Land and Cattle Company.” According to Peach, Grey submitted time cards to both the state and to Lindmark for the four-hour job.

• Use of a state truck to transport a bulldozer for Lindmark on March 11, and charging both the state and Lindmark for 2.5 hours of work.

Messages left by the News-Capital at Lindmark offices were not returned.

Meanwhile, the state embezzlement charges allege Grey used a Department of Agriculture trailer on Nov. 5 to transport a rented bulldozer 10 miles to a Burris Valley ranch at a value of $30.24. A second charge alleges he used a state bulldozer on Nov. 19, 2007, to grade a private road at Ty Valley, costing the state $220. The third charge alleges use of a state bulldozer to grade his own Ty Valley driveway Aug. 10, also costing the state $220.

Department of Agriculture Agent Capt. Jerry Flowers said Grey graded a neighbor’s Ty Valley private road after he was told they planned to host guests for Thanksgiving and that their drive was in bad condition.

In all, Flowers alleged Grey used the state bulldozer for about four hours for each project, and that the cost for using the equipment was about $55 per hour. The allegation involving hauling the bulldozer to Burris Valley was calculated at $1.20 per mile.

Conservation Commission Director Mike Thralls said Grey is one of five board members governing the conservation district headquartered in Talihina. The board membership is an unpaid position.

The district is one of 88 in Oklahoma that administers programs and technical help to producers and landowners.

Thralls didn’t think the filing of the charges would preclude Grey from continuing to serve as a board member, but said a conviction might.

Contact Kandra Wells at kwells@mcalesternews.com.

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