By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A St. Joseph couple, former officers of the St. Joseph Fraternal Order of Police, has pleaded guilty in federal court of defrauding the FOP out of $99,000.
Former St. Joseph Police Officer, 47-year-old Michael Hardin, and his wife, former Buchanan County Sheriff’s Deputy 43-year-old Sarah Hardin pleaded guilty in separate appearances before two different federal judges.
The Hardins admitted to using debit cards from the bank accounts of the Fraternal Order of Police Northwest Missouri Lodge #3 to make unauthorized purchases.
Sarah Hardin confessed to making $77,342 in personal purchases with the lodge’s debit card and another $22,484 from the FOP between 2015 and 2019. Among the purchases, fence panels and fence posts for a fence at her residence; flowers, potting soil, bench cushions, and LED lights for her residence; and letter balloons spelling out the word “Falcons” for an event at her child’s school.
Michael Hardin admitted to using the FOP debit card in 2017 for payments to Hampton Inn twice and to Life Lock Advantage; unauthorized purchases totaling between $6,500 and $15,000 according to federal government financial analysis.
Hardin served as president of the Fraternal Order of Police Northwest Missouri Lodge #3 for about 10 years, through January of 2022. Sarah Hardin was the treasurer of the lodge.
The Fraternal Order of Police Northwest Missouri Lodge #3 has 300 members from nine northwest Missouri counties.