A corrections deputy with the Mackinac County Sheriff’s Department has been arraigned on two charges of writing non-suffienct funds checks to the inmate trust fund.

Keith Grogan, a 20 year county employee, was arraigned Monday, February 14, in Mackinac County District Court and was released on a personal recognizance bond. He currently is on administrative suspension.

Mr. Grogan is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on March 1 at 2 p.m. at District Court in the Mackinac County Building.

His arrest followed a month-long investigation by the Michigan Sheriff’s Association MISSION team, used by sheriff’s offices around the state to conduct internal investigations. The discrepancies were discovered by newly elected Sheriff Scott Strait during his initial audit of the department.

Sheriff Strait, a former deputy, said that shortly after he took office in January, he went into the office on a Sunday to do an organizational audit to “give me a picture of where the department was at that time.” He said he wanted to get a snapshot of the staffing, work schedules, and policies and procedures that were in place.

When he discovered discrepancies in the inmate fund, he called in the Michigan Sheriff’s Association MISSION investigative team.

According to the sheriff, Mr. Grogan is alleged to have written checks to cover cash taken from a safe, but when cashed, funds were not in his account to cover the checks. Sheriff Strait said very few people had access to the safe.

Mr. Strait would not release the amount of money involved.

“I hate that this happened, but it did and we have to put safeguards in place so it doesn’t happen again,” said Sheriff Strait. “It is a very difficult situation for all of us.”

Mackinac County Prosecuting Attorney W. Clayton Graham contacted the Michigan Attorney General’s office requesting they assign a prosecuting attorney to the case to avoid a conflict of interest, since Mr. Grogan is a county employee. The Attorney General assigned Chippewa County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Peppler, who sought warrants for Mr. Grogan’s arrest after reviewing the investigation.

“I was as surprised as the rest of the people as it came down,” said Lawrence Leveille, the former sheriff who retired at the end of 2004 after 25 years of service and is now a Mackinac County commissioner. “I would have taken the same steps as the present sheriff has taken,” he said.