Dakota County Employee Was At Casino, Racetrack Instead Of Work

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced that Troy Dal Withers, 46, of Oakdale, pled guilty this week to one count of misconduct of a public officer or public employee (a gross misdemeanor) in connection with falsely reporting his hours and mileage reimbursement claims.

The illegal acts occurred while he worked as a probation agent for Dakota County Community Corrections, police said. Withers resigned from his position on April 11, 2019.

Judge Douglas Bayley sentenced Withers to 10 days of sentence to service and placed him on probation for up to two years. In addition, Withers is required to pay a fine of $750, pay restitution and successfully complete gambling treatment.

Withers was originally charged in May of 2019 with two counts of theft by swindle.

In February of 2019, the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a representative from Dakota County Community Corrections who reported Withers may have submitted false timecards and mileage reimbursement claims.

Probation officers are not required to work set hours; however, they are required to work a minimum of 80 hours per two-week pay period, maintain an electronic calendar that includes client meetings, and report electronically their working hours to Dakota County Financial Services.

On at least four occasions during the timeframe of June 2018 to February 2019, Withers reported meeting with clients or attending meetings that he did not actually attend and claimed mileage reimbursement on three of those occasions.

Through investigation, it was determined that on these four occasions, Withers was actually at Running Aces, a casino and racetrack operated in Anoka County.

"We are pleased to have brought this former employee to justice," Backstrom said in a news release.