A former Jefferson County probation officer deposited in his own bank account as much as $1,000 in restitution payments from a court offender, according to Kentucky Corrections Commissioner John Rees.

Rees said yesterday that the situation was discovered during a joint Corrections Department and Louisville Metro Police investigation of the offender's claim that he hadn't been properly credited with payments he made to Gerald Zellar, a probation officer who committed suicide on Feb. 15.

Zellar was found shot in the head in Louisville's Cox Park; Rees said he doesn't think Zellar's death, later ruled suicide, was related to the missing money.

City police and the department are trying to recover the money from Zellar's estate, according to Rees. He declined to identify the offender but said he would be credited with the payments.

He said no charges will be filed because Zellar, 49, of New Albany, is dead.

Attorney Robert Schumacher, who represents Zellar's estate, said he was unaware of the allegations. No claim for the money has been filed in Indiana's Floyd Circuit Court, where probate records show Zellar had assets of about $5,000.

Zellar's widow, Jerry L. Abel Zellar, could not be reached for comment.

Rees said that as a result of the incident, the department may end a practice in which the Office of Probation and Parole in Jefferson County collects restitution payments from individual offenders, then bundles them for delivery to the clerk's office.

Rees said in most counties offenders pay restitution directly to the clerk but that in Jefferson and a few others, probation officers started collecting payments to reduce the number of felons visiting the courthouse.