By Eric Miller
The Tennessean
SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. — Two former Sumner County EMS administrators entered conditional guilty pleas under the pretrial diversion statute for several drug charges levied against them from their time working for EMS.
The charges stem from an investigation of alleged thefts of controlled substances stretching from July 31 to Oct. 31, 2008, according to authorities.
Barry Clardy, former assistant director of Sumner County EMS, was charged with two counts obtaining drugs by fraud, three counts forgery, four counts theft up to $500, two counts simple possession and one count official misconduct.
As part of his plea agreement, Clardy received judicial diversion for charges of obtaining drugs by fraud, forgery, two counts of theft under $500, possession of schedule II and official misconduct.
The remaining charges were nolle prosequi, meaning that while Clardy will not be prosecuted on the charges, the District Attorney’s office reserves the right to pursue them at a later date if they so desire.
Clardy must serve a four-year probationary period as part of his pretrial diversion. Should he violate the terms of his probation, he would be subject to sentencing on the charges. If that happened, Clardy could be sentenced to four years in jail at 30 percent.
Following the completion of his probation, Clardy would be able to have the charges expunged from his record.
As part of his plea agreement, Clardy was also given a lifelong ban from employment or volunteer work with access to scheduled drugs. He is also surrendering his EMT license. He is also required to contribute $1,000 to Sumner EMS.
Former EMS worker Allen Mason, who served as the resource manager, was charged with two counts obtaining drugs by fraud, three counts forgery, six counts theft up to $500 and one count official misconduct.
The terms of his pretrial diversion include conditional guilty pleas to obtaining drugs by fraud, two counts of theft under $500, two counts of forgery and one count of official misconduct.
Mason is also required to donate $1,000 to Sumner EMS and serve four years of probation. During that period, he must present a letter to any potential medical employer that informs them of his conventional guilty pleas. The Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board may require Mason to present the letter to potential employers for a longer period than his probation.
Both men were fired by EMS soon after their arrests. Clardy had been employed there for 11 years, and Mason had worked there for 15.
Another stipulation of the plea agreements is that Clardy and Mason are to have no contact with Sumner EMS, any scheduled drug or each other.
Reprinted with permission from The Tennessean.