Science Hill police chief pleads guilty to tampering with public records

Science Hill Police Chief William “Robbie” Gossett has pleaded guilty to tampering with public records, according to the office of the Kentucky attorney general.

Gossett was ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution to the city, surrender his certification as a police officer and serve 21 days of home incarceration, according to the attorney general’s office. He was also ordered to be on supervised probation for two years.

Gossett admitted to taking citizens’ cash that was intended to be used as payment for water bills while he was working for the city of Science Hill from July of 2008 to October of 2009, according to the attorney general’s office. Gossett was indicted in December of 2015 by a Pulaski County grand jury for abuse of public trust and theft of more than $10,000.

“Kentuckians have a right to expect that public officials follow the law and uphold public trust. As the people’s lawyer, my office is working every day to protect Kentucky families and our most vulnerable citizens from fraud and abuse,” Attorney General Andy Beshear said in a news release. “I applaud the effort of my office’s Special Prosecutions Unit for their work on this case.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Science Hill police chief pleads guilty to tampering with public records."