Ex-county executive pleads guilty to theft

A former county judge for Izard County pleaded guilty to charges that include forgery and theft after authorities discovered county property on his farm, court records show.

David Charles Sherrell, 58, approached a truck company in June 2015 about buying two dump trucks for the Izard County Road Department, according to an affidavit from the Arkansas State Police.

Sherrell, who was serving as county judge of Izard County, told the company to raise the price of the trucks to include the price of a trailer, valued around $7,250, authorities said. His sonin-law, Matt Orf, later sold the same trailer to the county for $9,250, the affidavit said.

In the same month, Sherrell purchased two road graders valued at $143,000 using an invoice for one road grader valued at $163,000, keeping one at his home until he lost his re-election bid, according to the affidavit. Paul Shuttleworth, a salesman at Stribling Equipment, told authorities that he knew the invoice was fraudulent but signed it “for fear of losing the sales,” the affidavit said.

During the same period, Sherrell bought a bulldozer the county never used and thousands of dollars worth of tools, some of which he delivered to the county and some of which he dropped off at his farm, authorities said.

Sherrell, who pleaded guilty to criminal use of property, theft of property and two counts of forgery, was sentenced to six years in prison, documents show.

He also must pay $35,000 in restitution to Izard County. Records show he served as county judge from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2016.