Indictment: Seattle ATF supervisor lied, stole from agency A former supervisor in the Seattle office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was indicted Thursday following allegations he embezzled from the bureau and faked records to hide the thefts. James Contreras, formerly a special agent with the ATF, is alleged to have pilfered from an expense account meant to allow agents to buy guns and other products while working undercover, and to pay informants. Contreras, a 51-year-old Maple Valley resident, was supervising the Seattle ATF office when the thefts are alleged to have occurred. Prosecutors claim the thefts began in March 2010 and continued through April 2012. According to prosecutors, Contreras took money from the account on 30 occasions. He is alleged to have forged signatures of agents who were supposedly requesting and receiving money from the fund, and to have falsified forms tying the expenses to specific investigations. On Thursday, a federal grand jury in Seattle indicted Contreras on one embezzlement count and 30 counts of making false statements. Accused in 30 separate thefts, Contreras is alleged to have stolen $19,700 in ATF money. Court records show most of the money was disguised as "subsistence payments" to ATF informants. The case is being prosecuted by federal prosecutors out of San Francisco, due to Contreras’s ties to Seattle-area law enforcement. He is expected to make an initial appearance in December before a U.S. District Court judge.
This is one of the things when I don't know if I should laugh or cry. Well I wouldn't cry over this, but you get the picture.
@stg58 On dialup here at home without the current Adobe Flash version, so can't watch the vid, but I believe it's the one we saw when we still had TV. Is it the one where he's demonstrating 'gun safety' to a bunch of kids?
