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A former Cookeville Fire Captain faces charges after he allegedly took some $32,212 in compensation he did not deserve.
Marvin Montgomery worked for the Cookeville Fire Department and as a part-time instructor at the Tennessee Fire and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bell Buckle. The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office found in an investigation that Montgomery put down the same hours worked at both places. Montgomery allegedly claimed some 1,345 hours he did not work between January, 2017 and February, 2019.
A current Cookeville Fire Captain, Shawn Roberson, has been placed on administrative leave without pay after being indicted on charges he received more than $2,000 in wages in the same setup. This occurred during the same two-year period.
Montgomery retired from the fire department once the investigation began. The City Of Cookeville collected some $16,094 from Montgomery’s accrued leave balance as part of repayment.
“In early 2019 the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office notified the City of Cookeville that they had received an anonymous complaint and had initiated an investigation into the alleged misuse of time by employees of the Cookeville Fire Department,” City Manager James Mills said in a statement. “The City of Cookeville and the Cookeville Fire Department fully cooperated with the investigation.”
A grand jury indicted Montgomery and Roberson Thursday. Montgomery faces a charge of theft over $10,000. Roberson faces one count of theft over $2,500.
Montgomery retired from the Putnam County Fire Department in 2017, receiving an ax for his service.
