KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A former Knoxville police senior financial analyst pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges of embezzling police property.
John Harold, 46, was charged with one count of embezzling property under the control of the city of Knoxville.
An internal investigation found that Harold misappropriated over $50,000 in funds associated with the 2007 Internet Crimes Against Children grant. It's administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Harold also initiated a budget amendment to allow a $50,000 check to be drawn without approval.
In April 2011, Harold issued the check to the Community Coalition on Family Violence and deposited it into a bank account listing CCFV as the owner and himself as having signatory authority.
Account statements indicated that Harold issued checks payable to himself from the CCFV account, including checks totaling $33,000 between December 2010 and August 2011.
Harold is scheduled to be sentenced on November 15. He faces up to 10 years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.
