Thursday, February 05, 2009

Former Officer Bill Billings Arrested for 3 Felonies


A former Gainesville police officer turned himself in early Wednesday on three felony charges, adding to the three misdemeanors he was charged with last month. All the charges are tied to his work as a police officer.

Bill Billings, 51, turned himself in at the Alachua County jail on 4:30 a.m. on charges of grand theft, scheme to defraud and official misconduct. Bond in his case was set at $15,000. He had previously been charged with three misdemeanor prostitution counts.

The felony charges allege that Billings falsely reported he was working overtime, accepted $5,409 in unearned overtime and falsified records to show he was working overtime while he was not.

Billings' problems became public in November when the police department announced the results of an internal investigation involving Billings. The report was turned over to the State Attorney's Office.

The internal report determined that 14 women reported they had had sex with Billings for money while he was on duty, in uniform and driving marked police vehicles.

The investigation also turned up evidence used to charge Billings with the felonies for which he turned himself in on Wednesday morning.

Billings, who had been a corporal with the agency and handled recruitment for GPD's Personnel Unit, resigned from the Police Department three months before the results of the internal investigation were released.

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More Information:
http://www.alligator.org/articles/2009/02/05/news/local/090205_prostitution.txt

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