{"id":95027,"date":"2018-12-18T17:01:56","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T01:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=95027"},"modified":"2018-12-18T17:01:56","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T01:01:56","slug":"pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Sheriff Who Cracked Notorious \u2018Pike County Murders\u2019 Case Accused of Stealing Drug Money to Fund Alleged Gambling Habit"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Ohio<\/a> Sheriff who handled the investigation into the brutal murders of eight members of one family in the southeast of the state — a case that garnered national attention in 2016 — has been accused of using confiscated drug money to fund an alleged gambling habit.<\/p>\n

\"Pike
Sheriff Charles Reader announces the arrests last month of six suspects in the Pike County murders, which took the lives of eight members of one family in 2016. (Image: John Minchillo\/Associated Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Six members of another local family, the Wagners, face trial on eight counts of capital murder\u00a0for their alleged part in the massacre of the Rhoden family.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors will argue that the main motive for the shocking killings was the battle for the custody of a then-two-year-old child between parents Jake Wagner — the youngest of the Wagners charged — and Hanna Rhoden, who died in the massacre.<\/p>\n

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader — among others — received plaudits for his work on the case, which led to the arrest of the Wagners last month.<\/p>\n

Anonymous Complaint<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But someone out there is not such a fan of Sheriff Reader. Last week, local media reported Pike County\u2019s top cop was under investigation by county prosecutors for a possible ethics violation.<\/p>\n

It has been brought to my attention that there have been allegations of misconduct in office on the part of the Pike County Sheriff,”\u00a0Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk wrote in a court motion Thursday. “Due to the working relationship and my status as legal counsel for the Office of Sheriff, I am requesting that a special prosecutor be appointed in this matter.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Monday, The Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em> discovered that a complaint filed with the Ohio Auditor\u2019s Office accused Reader of taking money forfeited<\/a> from drug dealers to feed his alleged gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

The complaint is anonymous but it is being taken seriously enough by the auditor\u2019s office to serve search warrants on Reader\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u2018Scared to Death\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The complaint alleges that the seized funds were kept in a safe in Reader\u2019s office that only he knew the code to.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a compulsive gambler and never has any money,\u201d alleges the complaint, which was obtained by The Enquirer<\/em> through the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cReader just does whatever he wants and no one ever calls him on it,\u201d the complainant claims. \u201cWe are scared to death of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reader\u2019s attorney James Boulger told the Columbus Dispatch<\/em> he was \u201cnot aware of\u201d his client having a gambling problem, adding that he was not saying that Reader doesn\u2019t ever gamble.<\/p>\n

Boulger didn\u2019t know who might have made the complaint against Reader but suggested it may be related to resentment over recent layoffs within the sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Ohio Sheriff who handled the investigation into the brutal murders of eight members of one family in the southeast of the state — a case that garnered national attention in 2016 — has been accused of using confiscated drug money to fund an alleged gambling habit. Six members of another local family, the Wagners, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":95029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPike County Murders\u2019 Sheriff Accused of Stealing Drug Cash for Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ohio Sheriff Charles Reader, lauded for his work on the Pike County Murder case, which led to the arrest of Jack Wagner and five other members of the Wanger family for the Rhoden family murders, has been accused of using seized drug money to fund an alleged gambling habit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pike County Murders\u2019 Sheriff Accused of Stealing Drug Cash for Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ohio Sheriff Charles Reader, lauded for his work on the Pike County Murder case, which led to the arrest of Jack Wagner and five other members of the Wanger family for the Rhoden family murders, has been accused of using seized drug money to fund an alleged gambling habit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-19T01:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/reader.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"Pike County Murders\u2019 Sheriff Accused of Stealing Drug Cash for Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/reader.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-19T01:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-19T01:01:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Ohio Sheriff Charles Reader, lauded for his work on the Pike County Murder case, which led to the arrest of Jack Wagner and five other members of the Wanger family for the Rhoden family murders, has been accused of using seized drug money to fund an alleged gambling habit.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pike-county-murders-sheriff-accused-of-stealing-drug-cash-for-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/reader.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/reader.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1350,\"caption\":\"Sheriff Charles Reader announces the arrests last month of sic suspects in the Pike County murders, which took the lives of eight members of one family in 2016. 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