Former Highland Heights Police Chief Sentenced to 45 Months for Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 17, 2012 |
COVINGTON, KY—A former Highland Heights police chief who previously admitted stealing more than $127,000 from his department was sentenced today to 45 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced 49-year-old Carl Mullen for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Mullen, a longtime chief of the Highland Heights Police Department and the Southgate Police Authority, admitted he fraudulently obtained over $115,600 in cash advances for personal use. He acknowledged he used credit cards issued to the police authority and individual officers within his department to obtain the advances. Mullen not only used these credit cards improperly, he also falsely certified each month that the cash withdrawals were for legitimate police expenses.
Mullen also admitted to stealing over $11,700 from a police authority account designated for criminal investigation expenses.
Mullen’s thefts occurred from January 2010 through November 2011. He was indicted in June 2012 and pleaded guilty in September.
Under federal law, Mullen will have to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence.
Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Perrye Turner, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announced the guilty plea.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Bracke and Robert McBride.