Two former board members of the Killeen Professional Firefighters Association could be on their way to trial after a grand jury indicted them Wednesday for supposedly stealing from the organization back in 2014.
One of the firefighters has since retired from the Killeen Fire Department, but the other is still there
More than three years ago, Jeffrey Ferrell, the former president of the Killeen Professional Firefighters Association, went to the Killeen Police Department to report that funds had been stolen from the organization.
"These were fellow firefighters that we trusted and put a lot of stock in to manage these accounts for us. And to have it come out that they stole money from us it does, it hurts a lot," Marc Clifford, current president of the Killeen Professional Firefighters Association, said.
Two months into a Killeen Police Department investigation, Keven Tennison confessed to spending approximately $50,000 over several years for personal purchases.
"This money is made up of dues money paid by the individual members from their paychecks," Clifford added.
"At one point in time, the organization did ask for us to basically hold the investigation while they attempted to negotiate some form of settlement," Frank Plowick of the Criminal Investigation Division for the Killeen Police Department said.
But during the process of that negotiation...
"Our new treasurer going through the books noticed there was a lot more money missing than what Keven had said so, the board opted to engaged the Killeen Police Department," Clifford said.
The Killeen Police Department continued their investigation which included subpoenas of bank and individual store records --- a process that takes quite some time especially since the offenses were over several years.
"During the review of that, an additional suspect was identified beyond the confession," Plowick added.
Former secretary of the Killeen Professional Firefighters Association Robert Arredondo spent over $4,000 for personal use, too.
"It's very personal to all of us," Clifford added.
Clifford and the new board of directors for the Killeen Professional Firefighters Association pride themselves on transparency of funds now, and they invite all of their members to ask to see the bank account at any time.
The Killeen Police Department wants to emphasize the money stolen was not of the city, so no tax dollars were abused.
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