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Sweetwater dispatch center director and wife charged with appropriation of public property

GREEN RIVER (WNE) — The former director of the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Dispatch Center is accused of misusing an Amazon Prime account set up for the center and making nearly $7,000 in unauthorized purchases.

According to court documents released last week, Robin Etienne and his wife Laura are facing felony and misdemeanor charges related to the alleged incident.

Robin faces charges of felony theft and misdemeanor charges of wrongful appropriation of public property and unlawful use of a credit card. Laura faces a felony charge of theft and a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a credit card. The felony charges are punishable with a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. Misdemeanor charges are punishable through a sentence of not more than six months in jail, a maximum fine of $750, or both.

On March 29, 2018, the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Joint Powers Board reported Robin’s resignation as the center’s executive director. An investigation into his expenditures was opened as the circumstances around the resignation were suspicious to the board members and his resignation letter indicated possible criminal activity.

Robin told investigators he allegedly started charging personal purchases to the dispatch center in 2016 or 2017, making those purchases sporadically during the next two years. In 2017, he was able to set up an Amazon Prime account for the dispatch center, using his work email address as the login. Robin said he was having financial struggles and suffering from depression.

Investigators logged into Robin’s gaming account and determined he made 13 charges to the account in 2017 and 2018 using the center’s card. All of the alleged unauthorized purchases amounted to $6,943.04.

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