This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An eastern Utah sheriff is facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly using his county-issued vehicle and a search-and-rescue trailer to move to his new home in southern Utah.
The Utah Attorney General's Office filed the charges against Carbon County Sheriff James Cordova in Price's 7th District on Thursday.
Cordova, 53, is charged with one third-degree felony count of misusing public money and one class C misdemeanor court of license plate and registration violation.
A telephone message left for Cordova at the sheriff's office on Thursday was not immediately returned. Court papers do not indicate whether Cordova has an attorney.
Cordova was first elected to office in 1999. He did not file for re-election this year and bought a house in St. George some months ago.
The Carbon County prosecutor's office launched an investigation of Cordova in March after citizens registered complaints about the sheriff with the county commissioner's office. The findings were turned over for further investigation and consideration of criminal intent to the attorney general's office.
Cordova has remained on the job throughout the investigation and his final term as sheriff runs out at the end of the 2014 calendar year. A message left with the county commission office also was not returned Thursday.
In a probable cause statement written by Ed Spann, an attorney general's office investigator, which was filed with the court, state attorneys say that between December 2003 and April 2014 Cordova used his county issued vehicle and a county trailer to move personal household items from his home in Carbon County to St. George.
During the moves, it is also alleged that Cordova used a county credit card about 26 times to buy more than $2,000 of gasoline at locations in five Utah counties.
Court papers also say the search-and-rescue trailer used to move Cordova's family furnishings was affixed with a license plate which was registered to another county trailer. The documents state Cordova has admitted to investigators that he had switched the plates.
Court documents indicate that authorities plan to ask a judge to issue a summons demanding Cordova appear in court. No date for a hearing was listed on the case court docket on Thursday.