A couple of interesting stories from www. KIDK.com and
www.localnews8.com. This is the guy I suspected of this a few years ago when he was trying to falsely accuse our former (non-Mormon) superintendent. I went to school board meetings asking them to audit Tingey's books. The board at that time was very happy with Tingey's work. When the the former board chairman ran for the state senate this year, I wrote a letter to the editor asking how he could actually ask for people's votes when felony fraud was happening under his watch. He lost. I used to work with Tingey's wife and I had my suspicions about their actions and lifestyle when he was at the Ririe School District before coming to Rigby. Give me a freakin' break. I knew what his salary was and I knew we lived on the same salary as they did. The Post Register did a good job with the story today. I'm convinced the guy will only see six months easy duty at Cottonwood and will be put on probation for the rest of his sentence. He's one of the brethren, y'know.
The former Jefferson School District business manager who embezzled at least 400-thousand dollars from the district was sentenced Monday.
Derek Tingey was sentenced to three to ten years in prison but the judge is maintaining jurisdiction of the case for 180 days.
During that time, Tingey will most likely go to the Cottonwood Detention Center where he'll be evaluated and his sentence could be looked at again.
This decision was reached after an emotional two hours in court. Tingey's wife took the stand and responded to a question as to why she hasn't divorced her husband after he'd been charged.
Tingey's wife: "I have a 16 year old daughter and a 6 year old son that mean everything to Derek."
A handful of Tingey's acquaintances took the stand as he asked Judge Brent Moss to give him time in jail at night so he could participate in a work release program.
Tingey: "I betrayed my employer, I betrayed my family. I'm truly sorry for my actions. They have caused me to lose many friends people that I've worked with for 13 years."
After nearly two hours of testimony, Judge Moss handed down the sentence.
Judge Brent Moss, 7th District: "You have sold your integrity for a mere pittance. No matter what's finally determined, when you weigh the value of your integrity versus what you got for it, you came out on the short end of the stick by a long shot."
After saying she was angry with her husband, Tingey's wife added this.
"Last night, as we sat down and told our six year old that this is happening today and there's a chance dad might not come home, it hit me that this family can be together forever." Me talking here...now, dig that delusional statement by my former co-worker.
Tingey was ordered to report to the Sheriff's office next Wednesday when he will be transferred to Boise.
To pay back the money to stole, the state has possession of Tingey's home, vehicles, and other valuables. His wife is also currently working several jobs.
Specific steps as to how and when he will make restitution hasn't been decided.
Former School District Employee Sentenced for Stealing Money from District
August 28, 2006
The former school district financial director of Jefferson County is sentenced to three to 10 years Monday afternoon.
Tingey stole money from the school district for 12 years. An ISP detective said Monday that he estimates Tingey took more than $600,000 from the district.
Despite yearly audits, the school district didn't have a clue Tingey had stolen anything. In fact, it wasn't the school district who was suspicious first.
According to the ISP detective who took the stand Monday, Tingey had a storage unit in Idaho Falls. An anonymous person came forward, wondering how Tingey had so many cars and trailers at the storage unit. They had suspicions that the cars were stolen. As soon as ISP looked into it, they found every one of the cars had been owned by the school district and then the title was transferred over to Tingey’s name.
Tingey had used the district’s money to buy a whole range of things over 12 years, including 15 cars, trailers, a flat screen TV, dozens of sets of tires, airline tickets, and accounts at Cal Ranch and Sam’s club.
West Nile Virus...
Over 30 Bingham County residents are confirmed to have West Nile Virus and that number is expected to rise significantly by the end of summer. Now the county is working on a plan to fight mosquitos carrying the virus. K-I-D-K Newswatch 3's Teresa Priolo has the details on the county's plan to put a stop to West Nile:
More cases than any other state...that's according to the Idaho department of health and welfare...And Bingham County is taking the lead with the highest concentration of west nile in the state. So to fight the problem head on...county officials are declaring Bingham County a "disasterous state". County disaster coordinator,Craig Rowland first learned how severe the problem is 10 days ago. Since then, he been scrambling to put together a plan. But Before Bingham county can receive state funding to curtail the virus, Idaho Governor Jim Risch must approve their proposed disaster plan. If that happens, officials say the state will cover 75% of the costs to abate the county. One of the benefits of declaring a disaster is the unprecedented access to emergency funds and private property.
While The county is waiting on Risch to free up funding, Blackfoot Mayor Mike Virtue says they need to act now and worry about being reimbursed later.
