Deputy’s widow accused of scam
Prosecutors say she embezzled $108K from union
Cathy Hill refused to be called a widow, telling reporters she preferred to be called the “surviving spouse” of murdered Sheriff ’s Deputy Barrett Hill.
In that role, she stood behind Gov. Rick Perry during a pro-law enforcement bill signing in 2008. She comforted other surviving spouses.
She and her two daughters also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity from Houston’s 100 Club and, because of her close work with the Harris County deputies’ union, she landed a job as its office manager.
On Thursday, she was arrested on embezzlement charges, accused of quietly changing her payroll checks over the course of 20 months to overpay herself by $108,000.
“They put a lot of trust in her, because of the circumstances,” said prose-
cutor Denise Nichols. “She started inflating her salary payments, obviously without the organization’s authorization.”
It is not the first time a law enforcement union in Houston has allegedly been pilfered by a trusted employee.
Veteran HPD officer Matthew Calley was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2011 for stealing more than half a million dollars from the Houston Police Officers’ Union to fuel his gambling habit. He had been one of the organization’s treasurers.
Nichols said the allegations against Hill, 51, do not include any evidence of extravagant spending.
She is in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $216,000 bail, twice the amount she is accused of taking. Hill was indicted this week after a 20-month investigation into allegations from the Harris County Deputies’ Organization.
The union found signs of unusual financial transactions in May 2014, fired Hill that month and asked the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to investigate. Union representatives declined to comment on the case Thursday.
To prevent embezzlement in general, Nichols cautioned businesses and organizations to stay vigilant by having multiple employees keep tabs on bank accounts and spending.
If convicted of the second-degree felony, Hill could face 20 years in prison. Her husband, Barrett “Barry” Hill, was shot and killed after he and his partner chased down two suspected car thieves Dec. 4, 2000.
Robert Gene Will II, 37, was convicted of capital murder and remains on death row.
In 2002, the Hill family sued him for $10 million and tried to argue that he should not be allowed to access money in his commissary account.
A lawyer for the deputies’ union who represented the Hills in the failed lawsuit said Will should not have access to any money because taxpayers are footing the bill for his food, clothing, housing, medical care and other necessities.