A former officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has entered a guilty plea for unauthorized personal use of state funds allocated for gasoline purchases after a series of discrepancies were identified in his use of a state-issued credit card. James Travis Buchanan, who served as a Wildlife Officer for the TWRA for 19 years in Morgan County, was scrutinized following an internal audit that started in February 2023 and revealed unusual fuel purchase patterns dating back to 2008. An ongoing investigation ultimately confirmed the misuse of public resources.
The inconsistencies came to light when TWRA officials noticed Buchanan’s gasoline purchases “far exceeded the amounts needed to cover the mileage the truck was known to have traveled,” as perWVLT. The investigation launched by the TWRA showed that from August 2008 through February 2023 Buchanan had bought over 50,000 gallons of fuel with his state-issued card but only logged 227,357 miles in his agency vehicle which raised questions about the amount of fuel consumed in comparison to the distance traveled and this prompted the agency to dig deeper into the issue.
Buchanan’s misuse of the gas card involved purchasing gasoline for more than his truck’s capacity and filling additional containers, as found through surveillance by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Details from theWATEreport highlighted Buchanan’s actions, which included recorded trips to a Morgan County gas station “pumping gas, paid for with his state issued credit card, into multiple red five-gallon gas containers in the back of his truck.” Further supporting evidence was discovered during a search of Buchanan’s property.
Ultimately, Buchanan faced consequences for his actions; he was ordered by the court to serve six years on probation and make an immediate restitution payment of $46,000 to the TWRA, as reported byWBIR. Moreover, the former officer was stripped of his rights to pension funds and annuities accumulated through the state retirement system and has been permanently barred from being re-employed by the Tennessee government, this marks a significant downturn in what has been described as an otherwise respectable career tarnished by financial misconduct stemming from a misuse of resources entrusted to him.
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