St. Johns County sergeant accused of spending $1,300 of PAL funds for personal use

A St. Johns County deputy has been "separated" from his position after a criminal investigation revealed that he used more than $1,300 of Police Athletic League funds to purchase items for personal use.

A criminal investigation into Sgt. Robert Gober III began a few months ago when SJSO employees raised concerns about how PAL funds were being appropriated, according to a news release from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

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The St. Johns County PAL is a nonprofit organization that "is committed to providing safe and structured activities to the youth of St. Johns County," according to its website. (Note: The organization is not affiliated with the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville.) 

Gober was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which found that "Gober has purchased items for personal use in the amount of $1,302.89" with a PAL debit card, the release detailed. Some of those items included custom-made calendars, fantasy football league purchases, tickets to an NBA basketball game, bike repairs, a vehicle-repair bill and sunglasses.

The investigation also found, according to the release, that "numerous questionable charges ranging from hotel rooms for PAL trips, gift cards, and dinners where alcohol was served to a limited and select number of volunteers." Those were policy violations, not criminal ones, SJSO Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan said.

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He had also collected money from PAL concession-stand purchases and event registrations, according to the release, "without validating the amounts of money, before making documented and undocumented expenditures."

After the criminal investigation, an administrative investigation was conducted and it was found that Gober violated numerous policies.

Gober had been with the sheriff's office for nearly 25 years, according to the PAL Facebook page. Mulligan said Gober has been responsible for huge growth in the PAL program, but SJSO cannot overlook any missteps.

Sheriff David Shoar said he faces one count of organized scheme to defraud pending the review of the State Attorney's Office. He has not been arrested, and would only be if the State Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant.

Gober was notified by Sheriff Shoar about the charge, at which point he chose to resign, Mulligan said. Because he resigned while under investigation, Gober's file will be sent to the state to determine if he can work in law enforcement again.

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Shoar said in a statement in the release:

The Police Athletic League in St. Johns County has been one of the best programs the Sheriff's Office has ever been involved with. It is a cost effective sports program for our youth and has been a positive influence for several decades, and even though it is an autonomous program apart from the Sheriff's Office, we will continue to treat it as part of our family of community programs and will continue to support it and to devote sufficient resources to it."

Cox Media Group