RSSFranklin County public works manager accused of embezzling $1 million to fuel cocaine habit
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By Annette Cary
Tri-City Herald
PASCO — A Franklin County public works manager is under investigation for using a fake company to embezzle possibly a $1 million to support an alleged cocaine habit.
Dennis M. Huston, 65, director of accounting and administration for the Public Works Department, made a preliminary appearance in Benton Franklin Superior Court today. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
He is being held on investigation of first-degree theft, money laundering and possession of cocaine. He has not been charged.
He was one of nine county employees put on administrative leave Thursday as part of an investigation into the theft of public funds. He’s the only one on unpaid leave and the only one to be arrested.
Court documents filed today claim he used the name of a business, Critzer Equipment, that closed in 2001 to pay himself through false invoices.
When the company existed, he was not part of it but he opened bank accounts using that name and was listed as the sole proprietor, court documents said.
When he was arrested Thursday, he alleged told Pasco detectives that he used the money to support his cocaine habit.
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