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By JEFFREY S. HAMPTON
The Virginian-Pilot
CURRITUCK, Va. - A former Currituck County fire chief pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling funds from a volunteer department over several years.
Howard Thomas Brothers, 41 at the time of his arrest, was charged in September with two counts of embezzling a total if $218,000 from the Lower Currituck Volunteer Fire Department in about a four-year period. The Currituck County Sheriff’s Office and the State Bureau of Investigation had audited the department’s books since April after reports that funds were being misused, said Diane Sawyer, spokeswoman for Currituck County.
Brothers, of Aydlett, was sentenced to a 30-day active jail sentence with five years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution of $223,000, which includes $5,000 for the cost of the audit, Sawyer said. Brothers is to report to the Currituck County Detention Center Jan. 6, to begin serving the 30 days, she said.
The Lower Currituck Volunteer Fire Department had failed to submit an audit required by the county for several years. Brothers had served as chief of the Lower Currituck Volunteer Fire Department during much of that time. Brothers was also employed with that department as a paramedic, Sawyer said.
The investigation into Brothers was one reason why Currituck County in July took over managing finances for the six volunteer fire departments.
With the new budget that took effect July 1, the county eliminated individual fire tax districts and created a 2-cent county-wide fire tax. Each fire district will get more money this year than last year. Before the new budget took effect, each department handled its own money.
A county wide fire chief was hired earlier this year but is not assigned to take over the duties of local chiefs.
Many departments temporarily balked at the change, not wanting to give up too much control to the county.
The county’s first volunteer fire department was formed in the early 1950s in Moyock. Since then, Currituck’s volunteer fire departments and their buildings have served as centers where residents have often met for chicken dinners or to debate community problems. The departments often held fund raisers to buy trucks and equipment. Volunteer firefighters and volunteer rescue squads were often the same people.
But the population has more than tripled since then, and as traffic has increased so have the number and severity of accidents. In recent years, the county has hired full-time emergency medical personnel. Many of the full-time emergency employees also work as volunteer firefighters.
Medical emergency calls far outnumber fire calls, according to county records. Last year, there were about 330 fire calls, including in Corolla. During the same time, there were more than 2,000 medical emergency calls, not including Corolla.