Orleans Parish sheriff’s office arrests second employee in scheme to defraud agency

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A second person who worked at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office was arrested and fired Tuesday for allegedly participating in a scheme to defraud the agency of more than $90,000, the sheriff’s office said.

Toya Robertson, 51, faces felony charges of theft over $25,000, monetary instrument abuse, obstruction of justice, injuring public records, filing false public records, public contract fraud and malfeasance in office, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. It was unknown if she has an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Her arrest came a day after the alleged mastermind of the scheme, 57-year-old Labrina Carey Lackey, was booked on the same charges in a scheme to misappropriate funds from the sheriff office’s Inmate Trust Fund.

Detectives found the scheme involved falsifying journal entries and issuing unauthorized check disbursements from former inmate accounts to hide cash discrepancies from deposits made at the bond window, the sheriff’s office said.

Robertson was fired ahead of her arrest. She had worked for the agency since January 2002.

It was not immediately known if more arrests are expected. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing.