Ex-Sheriff’s employees stole Samurai sword, cocaine in evidence theft case: complaint

A second former Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office employee was arrested Wednesday on a warrant connected to the roughly $145,000, drugs and weapons stolen from property and evidence, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Marc Gordon, 45, a former property and evidence technician, was arrested on suspicion of felony official misconduct and three misdemeanor counts of theft. Robert White, 53, a former property and evidence supervisor, was arrested Friday on suspicion of 19 counts connected to the missing items.

White has since been formally charged with 13 crimes, according to Sedgwick County District Court records.

Gordon is expected to make a first appearance in court in the coming days.

A criminal complaint released Wednesday following White’s first appearance in court gives new details about at least some of the items stolen from the building under his watch: $7,756 in cash went missing as well as swords, a metal club, more than five pounds of cocaine, more than a quarter pound of methamphetamine, around a half ounce of marijuana, and 235 of units of narcotic and hallucinogenic drugs.

The swords were described in the complaint as decorative and Samurai styles.

The Sheriff’s Office said it does not expect any additional arrests in the case.

In May, Sheriff Jeff Easter announced that two employees were no longer with the Sheriff’s Office while the office audited more than 50,000 items in property and evidence.

The missing evidence caused the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office to dismiss about 30 drug cases, with about 40 more under review for possible dismissal.

The cases dropped are lower-level drug cases. The Sheriff’s Office prioritized evidence in larger, pending cases to make sure the evidence still exists, District Attorney Marc Bennett said.

Easter said in May the audits were ongoing but, so far, had turned up missing money and “numerous amounts of drugs and seven guns and power tools.” Easter said one gun has since been recovered after the serial number showed up at a pawn shop.

The missing items covered cases over several years. The audit and investigation started after an employee noticed the storage area in disarray on Jan. 24.

According to court records, White is facing 13 charges:

• one count of felony official misconduct for allegedly removing “lawfully seized drug evidence from the Property and Evidence Facility”
• two counts of felony theft and three counts of misdemeanor theft over the stolen cash
• seven felony counts of drug distribution or possession with the intent to distribute various illicit drugs and controlled substances

There was no defense attorney listed for him in court records mid-afternoon Wednesday.

White, a married stepfather, wrote on an application for a court-appointed lawyer that he resigned from the Sheriff’s Office five months ago and is currently unemployed, though is drawing $1,600 a month in disability funds from the Veteran’s Administration. On the form, he listed the Sedgwick County Jail as his current address.

White is due in court again on July 16 for a preliminary hearing and remains in jail in lieu of $150,000 bond.

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 2:05 PM.