The city of Laurel’s former public works director is accused of using government-owned equipment for personal reasons and tampering with evidence linked to an investigation into his alleged misuse of taxpayer-funded property.
Special agents with the Office of the State Auditor arrested Luther Russell, State Auditor Shad White announced Thursday. Russell is said to have used heavy equipment owned by the city of Laurel to conduct work on his personal property while serving as a government employee.
He is further accused of tampering with evidence connected to an investigation into his alleged misconduct by ordering employees to disable the GPS tracking device on a city-owned vehicle. Russell reportedly instructed employees to load the city’s track hoe onto its low-boy trailer and transport the equipment to his property, where he then allegedly did work.
The road outside of Russell’s house was damaged by the heavy equipment when it was moved to his property, the auditor said. After being instructed by the county to repair the damaged roadway, Russell allegedly instructed his employees to disable the GPS tracking device on the vehicle to conceal its movement so it could be used to repair the damaged roadway.
“Thank you to the agents in my office who did the hard work in uncovering this scheme,” White stated. “We will continue to work closely with prosecutors to get record results for taxpayers.”
Russell faces up to $8,000 in fines and 30 years in prison.