More Details Emerge In Ex-Lawman Spending Case

CORTEZ, Colo. (AP) — A former Montezuma County undersheriff charged with using taxpayer money to pay for personal items, including firearms, tried to sell three of those weapons by posting classified newspaper ads, according to recently unsealed court documents.

Robin Cronk is charged with 17 embezzlement counts involving purchases totaling more than $7,400. Cronk resigned in June and was arrested in July after a Colorado Bureau of Investigation probe. He is free on $1,500 bond.

The Cortez Journal reported that during the investigation, a CBI agent focused on three weapons owned by Cronk: An Armalite Sniper AR-30 rifle, a Remington VTR .308 caliber rifle and a Kimber .45 caliber handgun.

Cronk tried to sell those weapons by posting ads in the Journal, Mancos Times and Dolores Star, the Journal said.

The CBI also investigated a $600 Springfield-brand .45 caliber handgun purchased by Cronk from a Scottsdale, Ariz., gun club, using Montezuma County funds. According to the documents, Cronk used county funds to have a $2,955 money order rushed for overnight delivery to a Miami-based online gun store. Cronk used the money order to buy a .308 semi-automatic rifle, the records show.

Cronk used a sheriff's office credit card to add a graphic imaging process to a rifle, the records indicate.

Cronk's phone number is unlisted.

Meador declined to comment to the Journal, saying a judge was expected to issue a gag order in the case.

According to the court documents, the probe began when Sheriff's Lt. Det. Ted Meador saw Cronk carrying a Remington .308 caliber bolt-action rifle at a shooting range— the same weapon authorized by the department for Meador's use on the department's sniper team.

Cronk was not a sniper team member, and Meador told investigators that deputies could only carry Glock brand handguns, per department policy.

Cronk became undersheriff in January 2011. The purchases of weapons, services, vehicle maintenance, holsters, ammunition and other items began in February 2011, according to a grand jury indictment.

The documents pertaining to the charges were unsealed at the request of a public defender for Cronk, who argued he could not defend his client with sealed or redacted records.

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