Sheriff’s office employee allegedly stole $158K from department, manipulated system for years | CPT PPP Coverage

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PORT ALLEN – Arrest records show a West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s employee who worked as a traffic clerk manipulated computers and pocketed $158,852 according to documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit.

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Those documents allege Mandy Miller carried out the theft from July 2018 until July 2022.

The report notes, “Miller as a Deputy Sheriff Traffic Clerk, would take payments from traffic fines and in turn manipulated/altered the computerized accounting records of the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. By doing this Miller was able to conceal the transactions.”

WBRZ obtained exclusive video of Miller turning herself in Friday. Our cameras captured a high-ranking WBRSO employee escorting her inside. That employee was named the chief of staff by Sheriff Mike Cazes effective Jan. 30, 2023.

“There will be no direct contact with the Sheriff on any matters dealing with the West Baton Rouge Sheriff Department,” the email notes. It was sent out department-wide and raises questions about what Cazes is doing.

Residents in town are frustrated with how things are being run at the office.

“I don’t like it,” one resident said. “I think it was wrong what happened. A lot of people get favoritism in this town.”

Booking documents released to the WBRZ Investigative Unit four days after Miller’s arrest show she was booked with felony theft, malfeasance, injuring public records, forgery, computer tampering and another obscure charge. That charge is R.S: 42:1461 A: Public Property, Duties of Officials, Employees and Custodians.

“Favoritism, favoritism,” one resident said. “Everyone’s got their get-out-of-jail-free cards. The people that don’t have that, they the ones that don’t get out of any thing. They go straight to the slammer.”

Booking records show Miller posted a $75,000 property bond. She was instructed to get permission before she goes out of town.

Sources said an investigation was launched by WBRSO Friday after WBRZ’s report that showed video of Miller turning herself in. Sources said WBRSO is more concerned about finding leaks in their department than doing the right thing.