Former Captain Ruben Fuentes was implicated alongside Sheriff Tony Estrada in authorizing nearly $200,000 in unearned overtime pay to 77 employees between 2013 and 2018. This involved directing staff to record 7,220 hours of unworked overtime on their timesheets. The unauthorized compensation practice reportedly began around 2000. In April 2021, the Arizona Auditor General referred the case for potential criminal charges related to misuse of public funds and solicitation of forgery. Fuentes and Estrada settled a lawsuit in January 2022 by agreeing to pay a combined $10,000, with the county’s risk management company contributing an additional $20,000. Fuentes was terminated on January 8, 2021, the day the new sheriff was sworn in, and subsequently filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county.
[Return to blog post](https://watchaudits.com/ruben-fuentes-santa-cruz-county-sheriffs-office/)
.
