A former West Virginia Division of
Highways supervisor pleaded guilty to lying about the misuse of state
resources.
Barry D. Thompson, 49, of Mt. Clare ,
entered the guilty pleas to two counts of providing false information to a West
Virginia State Trooper Wednesday in the Magistrate Court
of Upshur
County
He was sentenced by Magistrate
Juanita Adams to one year of probation.
Thompson, who is also under federal
indictment for lying to a federal agent, has agreed to cooperate with federal
authorities in their ongoing investigation of the WV Division of Highways
Equipment Division. If he fully cooperates, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will
dismiss the pending federal indictment.
Investigations have revealed
Thompson denied any knowledge state employees had misused state resources to
repair vehicles no longer owned by the state. However, he admitted Wednesday to
instructing at least one state employee to repair a dump truck that had
previously been sold at public auction at the state’s expense and on state
time.
Thompson was also present when a
state employee was directed to travel in his state issued vehicle, on state
time, to purchase a replacement muffler for the same dump truck. The muffler
did not fit and Thompson exchanged it, receiving a refund for the returned
muffler. Then, both mufflers were sold at a discounted rate normally provided
to the Division of Highways.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Public
Corruption Unit, while the FBI, State Police and State Commission on Special
Investigations led the inquiry. Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Parr prosecuted
the case on behalf of the government.
