A Tennessee grand jury handed down an indictment of a county official charged with allegedly stealing nearly $57,000 in diesel from the county.
Jason Browning, former Clay County Highway Superintendent, was indicted in September on one count of theft over $10,000 and three counts of official misconduct, according to a news release from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.
An investigation conducted by the comptroller’s office revealed that Browning “misappropriated” at least $56,900 worth of diesel, amounting to 16,200 gallons.
According to the news release, Browning admitted that he filled up with 150 gallons of highway department fuel every week from July 2021 to July 2023. Browning operated an independent trucking company, Browning Trucking, with a 2007 Peterbilt.
According to the comptroller’s investigation, Browning bought the truck in July 2021. He hired a driver to haul raw milk to a Kentucky-based food manufacturer. When not using the truck, Browning parked it on his personal property.
Aside from the cost of the diesel, the news release from the comptroller’s office said that Browning’s alleged actions left the county with less fuel than expected and put the county “at risk of having insufficient fuel supplies in case of a natural disaster or large project.”
Browning’s alleged theft wasn’t all the investigation detailed. The comptroller’s office also took issue with the recordkeeping by the Clay County Highway Department on fuel supplies. Unrelated to the case, the comptroller’s investigation noted that department employees were not required to keep or submit time records. The investigation did not note if employees were underpaid or overpaid due to this practice.
“The Clay County Highway Department should maintain inventory records documenting the receipt, usage and storage of fuel,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower said in the news release. “By reconciling the amount of fuel that is purchased to the amount that is used, the department can better detect any improper usage.”
Fuel prices continue to drop
While Browning may have found a way to save on the cost of diesel in his trucking operation, most other truckers continue to watch prices closely after cripplingly high prices in recent years.
For the 10th consecutive week, the Energy Information Administration reported that last week’s national average cost of diesel dropped more than a nickel to $3.18 per gallon.
The most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook released by the administration is predicting that oil production will be exceeded by consumption.
“We expect that oil prices will be pushed upward in the coming weeks and months as global oil consumption outpaces production,” EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis said. “There are uncertainties in the market, including demand growth in China and supply disruptions in the Middle East, that could push prices higher or lower in the short term.”
In spite of that prediction, diesel prices are expected to decline throughout the remainder of the year and to level out at $3.70 per gallon the first half of 2025. LL
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