Former Officer Faron White Expected to be Released from Prison

A Decatur police officer convicted of theft is expected to be released from federal prison at the end of the week. This Friday, Faron White will head home from a federal prison in Louisiana.

For 21 years, White fought crime in the city of Decatur.

"He was always the go-to guy. He always seem to know the answer," said John Bradford, who is now retired from the Decatur Police Department.

One day in January of 2009, White ended up on the wrong side of the law when he staged his own kidnapping with accomplice Sarah Richardson.

Bradford supervised White a few years before the incident.

"He was a great guy. It was just a total shock that he got involved with this," said Bradford.

Bradford believes White has some roads to mend when he gets out of prison. Namely, with the men and women who tirelessly searched for him.

"Those guys went at it 24-7, virtually not eating or sleeping, following every lead they could imagine in hopes of finding somebody they respected as a supervisor and a good friend. I hope he finds a way to somehow bring closure for those fellows for what he put them through," said Bradford.

Bradford hopes White will be able to land on his feet once he is released from prison. He'll have to find a job.

"To me, it's just obvious that the guy fell on some rough times, made some mistakes that snow balled on him and just got worse. It just got to the point that he couldn't get out of it and he did something very, very stupid," said Bradford.

White pleaded guilty to a federal theft charge for stealing $82,000 from the Decatur Police Department. A judge sentenced White to 16 months in prison.

He'll be getting out three months early, but will then be on supervised released for five years.

White's attorney, Jake Watson, says his client plans to get in the cabinet making business when he's released.

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Former Sgt Faron White Sentenced to 16 Months

A federal judge has imposed a 16-month sentence on a former Decatur police officer who staged his apparent abduction, stole $50,000 from the department and fled to Las Vegas.

The judge in Huntsville sentenced former Decatur police Sgt. Faron White for theft on Tuesday. A co-defendant was to be sentenced afterward.

White already has been in jail for eight months.

White admitted stealing money from his office safe, staging his disappearance and fleeing to Las Vegas in January. Authorities said he had debts from gambling and normal family expenses.

The judge ordered White to pay about $50,000 in restitution to Decatur police.
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Former Officer Sgt. Faron White Hearing Set for Friday Morning

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

A former north Alabama police officer accused of staging his own disappearance to cover up the theft of funds from his own department is due in court in Birmingham.

A hearing was set for Friday morning for former Decatur police Sgt. Faron White of Falkville. It will be his first court appearance since his indictment earlier this week on federal theft charges.

Prosecutors say White stage his disappearance from his office on Jan. 2 to cover up the fact that more than $5,000 in confiscated drug money was missing from a safe at work. He was arrested three days later in a hotel in Las Vegas.

A former police volunteer is accused of helping White.
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Other Information: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/01/former_alabama_police_officer.html

Former Sgt. Faron White Booked Friday for Staging his Disappearance

DECATUR

Former Decatur police Sgt. Faron White, accused of stealing seized drug money from his office and staging his disappearance, is back in Morgan County from Las Vegas.

White, 48, was booked into the Morgan County Jail at 3:25 p.m. Friday, a jail spokesman said. White, a Decatur officer for 22 years, has been charged with first-degree theft and his bond set at $20,000.

Morgan County District Attorney Bob Burrell has said he will seek to have White's bond increased or have him held with no bond because White is a flight risk.

White is accused of stealing at least $2,500 from a safe in his office on Jan. 2. His family reported him missing and police conducted a widespread search for White after they found signs of a physical altercation in his office.

But investigators determined that White stole the money and staged his disappearance with the help of Sarah Richardson, a volunteer worker in White's office.

Richardson, 29, has been charged with first-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension.

U.S. Marshals found White in Las Vegas on Jan. 5 and took him into custody without incident in a Las Vegas hotel lobby. White waived extradition. Richardson has told police that she thinks White may have stolen $70,000 from his office over several months.

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More Information on Sgt. Faron White Accused of Faking his Abduction

DECATUR, Ala.

A north Alabama police officer accused of faking his abduction and flying to Las Vegas took about $70,000 from a safe containing confiscated drug money, according to an affidavit.

Authorities initially said Sgt. Faron White, a 20-year veteran of the Decatur Police Department, took about $2,500 from the safe of the narcotics unit he directed, although they said thousands more could be missing.

The affidavit with the new amount was filed Tuesday by Morgan County authorities in support of an arrest warrant for Sarah Richardson who is accused of helping White stage his disappearance.

The sworn statement by Decatur Sgt. Richard Archer said Richardson was aware that White had stolen about $70,000 and on Saturday morning drove him to the airport in Nashville.

Federal marshals arrested the 48-year-old White in a Hampton Inn hotel lobby Monday night in Las Vegas, three days after he was last seen working late in his office in Decatur. He faces an extradition hearing in Las Vegas Thursday. Police say he planned to try to win money to pay off gambling and other debts.

The affidavit says Richardson, a police volunteer, met up with White at the Decatur Police Training Center at about 11:30 p.m. Friday before driving him to Nashville early Saturday morning. Police have said the two were romantically involved.

The affidavit, which does not specifically say where Archer got the information, was first reported by The News Courier in Athens.

Richardson is accused of helping White scatter papers from his desk to make it look like he may have struggled with someone before being abducted.

Sgt Faron White Accused of Staging his Disappearance

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

An Alabama police organized crime specialist who vanished last week amid signs of a struggle, triggering a search of a nearby river, was arrested in Las Vegas and accused of staging his disappearance to cover up a theft, authorities said Tuesday.

Police said Sgt. Faron White, 48, vanished in a bid to cover up a theft of $2,500 from his department in the north Alabama city of Decatur.

White — the head of the city's organized crime unit and Decatur's officer of the year for 2007 — was arrested late Monday by a federal fugitive task force in the lobby of a Hampton Inn hotel in Las Vegas. He was charged with theft.

Authorities said a 29-year-old woman, Sarah Richardson, was arrested at her home in Decatur and accused of helping White flee. Police didn't release details of any relationship between the woman and White, who is married with three children.

White was held on $20,000 bond; Richardson's was set at $2,500. Additional charges are possible against White and Richardson, who was accused of hindering prosecution.

It was unclear whether White, of Falkville, had hired a lawyer. Richardson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Police said the officer's family reported him missing early Saturday after he failed to return home from work. Police found signs of a struggle in White's office and began a search, which included a helicopter and rescue teams scouring the banks of the Tennessee River.

White joined the Decatur Police Department in November 1986, working in the jail before becoming a police officer.

The American Legion honored White last year as the city's officer of the year for 2007, noting that his unit was responsible for 354 arrests and the seizure of more than $100,000 worth of cash, weapons and property from drug dealers.
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More Information: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan/06/fugitive-police-officer-arrested-las-vegas/