Gebhart told this newspaper he first discovered the bank charges in January. He said he asked Ritchie to inquire with the bank about any mistakes. Gebhart said in March Ritchie claimed the bank fixed the mistakes.
But during an April financial audit, Gebhart said more inconsistent charges beginning in early 2010 were found. He said the misused charges amount to about $2,000.
“When it was reported to me, I had the (FOP) trustees report it to the sheriff’s office,” said Gebhart, who would not give specifics on the charges.
Ritchie, who cited personal reasons for his resignation in his personnel file, could not be reached for comment on Monday.
No charges have been filed against Ritchie, but this is the second time the deputy has been accused of mismanaging funds with a nonprofit group.
Ritchie was suspended by the sheriff’s office in September 2011 after being accused of mismanaging funds as treasurer of the Edgewood Youth Baseball and Fastpitch Softball Association.
Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said Ritchie was suspended for 40 hours, but the community baseball and softball league did not press criminal charges.
Ritchie had been treasurer of the FOP for five years. Asked why they allowed Ritchie to remain as treasurer following the Edgewood issue, Gebhart said, “We were not notified of the suspension until after this (FOP) incident.”
After the most recent discovery, Gebhart said the FOP members expelled Ritchie as the elected treasurer on May 2.
The 179-member FOP will review at its June meeting a full audit currently being generated, Gebhart said. The body will then decide if it will proceed with criminal charges.
Dwyer said Ritchie was placed on paid administrative leave May 1 after he was notified of the allegation and Ritchie, who worked as a jail transporter, resigned on May 3. Dwyer said the sheriff’s office will not investigate the incident, as it is up to the private organization to press charges.
“The resignation was a reasonable action,” Dwyer said. “There will be no fact-finding or investigation” by the sheriff’s office.
Dwyer said he doesn’t know all of the details of the FOP audit.
“The impression I got was he overstepped his bounds as authority,” Dwyer said. “Quite frequently there’s not criminal intent, but just someone being sloppy and irresponsible.”
Ritchie was also suspended for two days in 2006 following a verbal and physical altercation with another deputy, according to his personnel file.
“We hold our officers accountable for actions on and off duty,” Dwyer said.
Ritchie was first hired by the sheriff’s office as a part-time corrections officer in 1998. He was promoted to the capacity of deputy in 2001.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or Hannah.Poturalski@coxinc.com.
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