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| Former sheriff admits taking guns |
| By Daily Bulletin |
| Published: 05/17/2004 |
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Former San Bernardino County Sheriff Floyd Tidwell apparently liked his guns. So much so that he took 523 of them from the Sheriff's Department during his 8-year tenure at the top. Most of the weapons are still missing. Tidwell, 74, pleaded guilty last Monday in San Bernardino Superior Court to four felony counts of concealing stolen property. Those charges could be reduced to misdemeanors, depending on how much he cooperates with authorities to have the guns returned. He also won't have to serve any jail time under the plea agreement signed in Judge J. Michael Welch's courtroom. Tidwell was sheriff from 1982 through 1990. He gave many of the guns away to friends, family and reserve deputies, according to prosecutors. Anyone who decides to return the guns won't be punished as part of the agreement. Tidwell returned two milk crates full of handguns along with several rifles in November 2003. Authorities had been investigating him for five months when they received the weapons. A total of 89 were recovered. Several of the guns were confiscated weapons that should have been returned to their owners, said Mike Risley, an assistant district attorney. Eleven weapons ended up at the sheriff's firing range. Two were sold through licensed gun dealers, according to prosecutors. Tidwell may have taken guns out of the department without documentation, prosecutors say. The investigation of the former sheriff started in June when the homes of his two sons, Danial and Steven Tidwell were searched. Those searches didn't involve guns. Investigators were looking into illegal bail bond practices involving the two sons and along the way found 24 weapons at their homes. They have since been charged, along with 15 others, in a scheme where jail inmates were illegally compensated to recruit bail bond business inside jail. Steven Tidwell pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Danial Tidwell pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in San Bernardino Superior Court on June 10 for a hearing. |
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