Central Kentucky coroner, former state police trooper face federal theft charges
A Central Kentucky coroner and former state police trooper have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to commit theft, according to federal court records filed Thursday.
Scott County Coroner John Goble and former state trooper Michael Crawford were indicted Thursday on two counts of conspiracy to commit theft. The indictment alleged that Goble and Crawford conspired with another state trooper to illegally obtain weapons and ammunition that belonged to state police. The men were previously charged in state court.
Goble, a former state trooper, previously has denied all allegations.
The federal indictment alleged that Crawford asked a state trooper to “give him various calibers and gauges of ammunition” multiple times during the conspiracy, which ran from 2014 to 2018. Crawford allegedly told the state trooper to put the ammunition in Crawford’s vehicle.
Goble discussed multiple times the availability of ammunition with the state trooper and, on several occasions, picked up ammunition from the trooper, according to the indictment.
Crawford and Goble stored the ammunition in the basement of Goble’s office in Georgetown, according to the indictment. Others also stored the ammunition in the office basement at Crawford’s direction.
In December 2017, Goble told one of his employees to move the ammunition from the office basement to a Georgetown residence, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleged that in late 2016, Goble and Crawford inspected rifles and shotguns that were going to be designated surplus and sold by state police. The two defendants selected guns to purchase after inspecting them.
Goble and Crawford met with a state trooper in 2017 to purchase their selected guns with cash and then sold the guns to other people later in the year, according to the indictment.
The state trooper mentioned in the federal indictment was only referred to as “RMH,” but a previous indictment of Goble in state court named the trooper as Robert M. Harris.
The charges against Goble at the state level stemmed from the same allegations and included two counts of receiving stolen property, one count of theft, possession of a controlled substance (Oxycodone) and one count of first-degree perjury.
Goble was indicted in 2018 over the alleged thefts. Harris and Crawford were also indicted.
Goble’s case in state court is pending, according to court records. He was scheduled for a status hearing in Scott Circuit Court on April 12.
An internal investigation by state police found that more than $40,000 in ammunition had been unlawfully removed from the state police Supply Branch in Frankfort and delivered to Goble’s residence, police said. Goble also received three M1A rifles and 10 Remington shotguns that Harris illegally obtained from state police, the indictment said.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 7:49 AM.