PAWNEE COUNTY, Okla. — UPDATE (11/08; 1:51 p.m.) — Pawnee County Undersheriff Nick Mahoney voluntarily surrendered Tuesday morning and entered a not guilty plea to charges of embezzlement and filing a false claim with the state.

Mahoney is accused of driving his Pawnee County-issued SUV to his off-duty security job in Tulsa. He’s also accused of working at his off-duty job during the same hours his time sheet indicated he was working for the sheriff’s office.

His next court date is set for Jan. 10, 2023.

The Pawnee County Undersheriff is speaking out about allegations of embezzlement before the District Attorney (DA) files charges Tuesday morning.

Undersheriff Nick Mahoney is accused of driving his Pawnee County-issued patrol car to an off-duty security job in Tulsa and having the county cover the cost of gas. Mahoney told FOX23 this was standard practice in their department, and many other departments across the state. He also said he had no idea this was a crime.

“I was shocked. I was upset,” Mahoney said. “I was beside myself honestly.”

Mahoney said he was in disbelief when Pawnee County DA Mike Fisher called him into a meeting two weeks ago to talk about the embezzlement allegations. He recalled that Fisher handed him the affidavit in that meeting. In addition to embezzlement, the affidavit said Mahoney is also being charged with falsifying a time card.

When FOX23 asked Mahoney if he drove his patrol car to Tulsa for his security job, he said he thought he was following policy.

“I did,” he said. “I’ve done that since I became undersheriff following what our former undersheriff did. So I don’t deny that. I thought I was following policy.”

The Pawnee County Vehicle Usage Policy said:

“County-owned vehicles will be utilized for personal use only in situations where the use is considered by the elected official to be solely for the benefit of the county.”

Pawnee County Sheriff Darrin Varnell is the elected official that the policy refers to. Varnell hired Mahoney and gave him permission to use his patrol car for personal use.

“I have determined it is the best interest for the county and the Sheriff’s Office for [Mahoney] to be able to use your county vehicle for personal use so that you can always remain on an emergency on call status,” Varnell said in a letter issued to Mahoney last year.

“I wasn’t the only one participating in this practice,” Mahoney told FOX23. “I’m just the only one being charged.”

FOX23 asked Mahoney why he thinks he is the only one being charged.

“I think it’s a political problem between the district attorney and the sheriff’s office,” he said. “I think there’s bad blood there. I think the DA is upset. [Fisher] was a staunch supporter of the previous sheriff. I believe the sheriff and district attorney just don’t get along. I believe it’s a political pursuit.”

Mahoney also said he believes he is the “fall guy” in this investigation.

“I do believe that. Yeah,” he said. “They have to find a reason to get rid of the sheriff. To do that, they have to get rid of me.”

Mahoney also alleged that the investigation started because Fisher came to him asking for dirt on the sheriff.

In an interview with FOX23, Fisher said Mahoney’s claim was false.

“That is completely incorrect,” Fisher said. “That’s a total mischaracterization, and I have a recorded interview, a mirandized interview with him and my investigators. And it will show that that is a mischaracterization of what we talked about.”

Fisher said he received complaints from people in the community and within the government about Mahoney using his patrol car and started an investigation.

A search warrant indicated that a tracking device was placed on Mahoney’s patrol and captured him driving the car to his off-duty security job at a Tulsa Walmart nine times between August and September. The warrant also said Mahoney used the county-issued gas card at the Walmart and that he worked there during the hours he claimed he worked at the sheriff’s office on his time card.

Mahoney told FOX23 one woman who works for Pawnee County fills out everyone’s time sheets, and his hours are always marked the same.

“My time sheet always showed straight [eight hours], whether I worked 12 hours one day, 18 another,” he said. “It always showed straight eight [hours], and I signed it. I didn’t know it was an issue until [Fisher] brought it to my attention.”

Fisher said, “When you sign [your time card], it actually says below there ‘as a government employee, under penalty of law I agree that the hours reflected herein are true and correct.’”

At least three other Pawnee County Sheriff’s deputies told FOX23 they always signed their pre-filled time sheets as well. They also said they drove their patrol cars to the same off-duty security job with permission from the sheriff. The deputies also said they didn’t realize it was wrong.

“Anytime a government employee uses the vehicle, or uses a credit card or uses something issued to them by a government agency that they work for, they in essence are using something the taxpayers paid for, and that’s what makes Embezzlement by a Government Employee unique,” Fisher told FOX23.

FOX23 asked Fisher if he plans to charges the other deputies who use their patrol cars to get to their off duty jobs. Fisher said that Mahoney’s case was the first he’d heard of it, and it would “not be in the interest of public safety” to charge everyone at once. But his investigation is ongoing.

For now, Pawnee County deputies have stopped taking their patrol cars to private security jobs and started filling out their own time sheets.

Mahoney and Varnell said they believe it should be allowed.

“To me, it’s beneficial for him to do it because if he gets called, it’s obviously going to be an emergency,” Varnell said. “If they’re going to call someone that high up, he needs to be able to respond immediately.”

Mahoney said he intends to fight the charges.

“If that means going to jury trial, then we’re going to jury trial,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I plan to fight it. I didn’t do anything wrong and my boss gave me permission to do this.”

FOX23 asked the Tulsa Police Department (TPD) and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) about their policies relating to patrol car usage. Both agencies said they allow officers and deputies to work off-duty security jobs in uniform with their patrol car and cover the gas as long as they get permission and stay within their jurisdiction.

The Rogers County Sheriff also told FOX23 he allows this on a case-by-case basis.

This is a developing story.

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