Many, no doubt, will view the sentencing of Charlie Morris as the culmination of a great tragedy. A three-term sheriff being packed off to prison, they’ll say, is profoundly embarrassing for Okaloosa County. It brings shame upon the Sheriff’s Office. It is ruinous for his family.
Chin up, folks. The Morris mess is bad news all around, but it’s not a tragedy.
It’s not a tragedy when a crooked sheriff is removed from office and taken off the streets.
It’s not a tragedy when the bleeding of taxpayers’ money in a sleazy kickback scheme is finally stopped.
It’s not a tragedy when voters confront the abuse and lawlessness that reigned in a local government agency and swear they won’t let it happen again.
It’s not a tragedy when a community’s residents, even its youngest, see that a community’s leaders, even its most powerful, will be punished for breaking the law.
From those perspectives, Tuesday’s sentencing — indeed, the entire long, graceless fall of Charlie Morris, from his Feb. 27 arrest in Las Vegas onward — is a positive development. It is the righting of several years’ worth of wrongs.
Exactly how many years is unclear. But the modest 71-month sentence handed down in federal court roughly parallels the length of time Mr. Morris handed out ridiculously huge “performance bonuses” and then pocketed some of the cash as kickbacks. He is thought to have run this racket for five or six years.
Thus, the sentence provides a kind of closure.
Not everyone will see it that way. For some, Tuesday’s sentencing will be followed only by more grief.
Among the aggrieved, of course, will be the former Sheriff’s Office paper-pushers Mr. Morris is taking down with him. The latest count is four ex-administrators and, apparently, a fifth person the sheriff installed in a mostly imaginary “job.” They’re facing charges and possible jail time of their own.
There are also the Sheriff’s Office employees who accepted bonuses from Mr. Morris but who aren’t being charged. They’re still at work. If they’re unhappy with the way things have turned out, who can blame them? Some citizens now view them with suspicion for their roles, however innocent, in the kickback machine. And the Morris money spigot has been turned off.
As for members of the ex-sheriff’s family, our hearts and prayers are with them. But their problems with Charlie didn’t begin with Tuesday’s sentencing or even with his February arrest. Before the Sheriff’s Office scandal broke, according to investigators, Charlie Morris had a romantic relationship with a woman who wasn’t his wife. He gave her gifts bought with taxpayers’ money. He got her a high-paying, taxpayer-funded job with the county that didn’t require any real work.
Evidently, Mr. Morris’ commitment to his marriage was no firmer than his commitment to voters who had placed their trust in him.
Mr. Morris pleaded guilty to six federal charges back in May and could have been sentenced to 85 years. A pre-sentencing report recommended five to six. U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier gave him five years, 11 months, and told him to pay $212,000 in restitution.
Sure, we would rather have seen Mr. Morris receive a sentence closer to the max. But he still faces trial on state charges. More years may be added.
Today we’ll settle for the 71-month term. At least, for the duration, it’ll keep him away from money he could squander, voters he could hornswoggle, an office he could disgrace and taxpayers he could take to the cleaners. We hope he serves every day of it.
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