The former second-in-command of the Sheriff’s Department, who was indicted on charges of theft of federal funds, is claiming in a court filing he was acting on behalf of the department when the alleged crimes occurred, documents show.
In a notice filed this week with U.S. District Court, Christopher M. Radtke said he intended to use a “public authority defense” in his upcoming trial on seven felony charges related to money laundering and embezzlement of roughly $500,000 in public funds, court documents show.
“At all times alleged in the indictment, and with respect to the acts alleged in the indictment, Christopher Radtke was acting as an employee of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, acting within the lawful scope and authority of his employment on behalf of and in the interests of his employer,” the document says.
A public authority defense means the defendant knowingly committed a crime, but did so “in reasonable reliance upon a grant of authority from a government official to engage in illegal activity,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice website.
The notice said that as a result of the motion, it’s likely his trial will be delayed.
In November, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Soto set a date of Jan. 6 for Radtke to enter a change of plea and scheduled the trial to begin Jan. 24. It was unclear Wednesday if the date would be rescheduled.
“The public authority defense exists to protect employees like my client, who were simply acting at the direction of their superiors with respect to the allegations contained in the indictment,” said Radtke’s attorney, Sean Chapman. “We anticipate calling multiple witnesses at trial to establish this fact.”
The grand jury indictment says that between 2011 and 2016, Radtke embezzled, stole or fraudulently obtained at least $500,000 of forfeiture money from the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers fund.
Radtke’s September indictment came on the heels of a months-long FBI investigation, which began after the Star reported his niece, Nikki Thompson, took over a cafe inside sheriff’s headquarters in 2011.
The indictment includes multiple allegations of conspiracy, several relating to cafe purchases, including nearly $2,000 for custom-designed chalkboards that were used as menu boards in Thompson’s two cafe locations.
Other allegations include hundreds of dollars in reimbursements for restaurant bills and tips, materials used to assemble a Santa’s sleigh for the department’s 2011 awards banquet and more than $700 in model airplanes.
The conspiracy charge indicates other parties were involved, and the indictment mentions other persons “known and unknown to the grand jury,” but as of Wednesday, no one else had been charged.
