Former Decatur Police Sergeant Sentenced for Stealing from Department

U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith today sentenced former Decatur Police Sgt. Faron Eugene White to 16 months in prison for stealing money from the police department, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced.

The judge ordered White, 49, of Falkville, to pay $50,184 in restitution to the Decatur Police Department and ordered White to serve three years’ supervised release following his prison term.

Judge Smith sentenced White’s accomplice, Sarah Elizabeth Richardson, 30, of Decatur, to three years’ probation and fined her $500. As a special condition of her probation, Richardson is to seek mental health counseling.

White pleaded guilty in March to stealing money seized as evidence by the Decatur Police Department while he served as sergeant of the department’s Organized Crime Unit. He is charged with stealing about $60,000 between August 2007 and January 2009.

Richardson, who pleaded guilty as an accessory after the fact, was a civilian employee of the police department’s drug unit at the time and, knowing a crime had been committed, assisted White in order to hinder and prevent his apprehension.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Estes prosecuted the case.