LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A Scott County grand jury on Thursday returned indictments for current and former Kentucky State Police troopers as well as the Scott County Coroner in a case involving the theft of state-owned guns and ammunition from the state police supply branch.
According to the indictments, Master Trooper Robert Harris stole at least $20,000 worth of ammunition from the supply between 2013 and 2017. He's accused of also stealing 3 rifles and 10 shotguns in the latter year.
Prosecutors said Harris forged the names of a fellow trooper and another man in an effort to cover his own tracks "with the intent to deceive the Commonwealth of Kentucky." WHAS 11 is not identifying the men whose names were allegedly forged because neither is accused of any wrongdoing.
The indictments allege Harris transferred half of the ammunition and 5 shotguns to Kentucky State Police Lt. Col. Mike Crawford, who was also the state police Director of Operations. He has since retired, a KSP spokesperson said.
The remaining shotguns and rifles, the documents claim, went to Scott County Coroner John Goble. Goble, according to published reports is a retired KSP trooper.
Goble is also facing a number of other charges including official misconduct, abuse of public trust and drug possession.
The indictment claims Goble had 90 oxycodone pills in his possession and had also transported Moonshine for disposition in a vehicle owned by county government. The indictment also said Goble, between 2016 and 2018, was authorizing monthly payments of $500 to a deputy coroner Nathan Morris, who the indictment said was not providing any services of a deputy coroner.
WHAS 11 News confirmed Morris is on paid administrative leave since January 2018.
The more bizarre charge is the claim Goble, in November 2017, used a county-owned vehicle to transport donor eyes from the Kentucky Eye Bank to West Virginia for personal profit.
The WHAS 11 News iTeam learned of the internal Kentucky State Police investigation into the matter weeks ago. Within the last week, Goble told Investigative Producer Andrea Ash he expected the investigation to wrap quickly but declined to comment further. He could not be immediately reached when the indictments were made public.
While Goble was under investigation recently won the primary election for Scott County Coroner by a narrow margin of 22 votes.
All 3 suspects are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges July 2.
