PROSECUTOR: 'I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING WRONG'

MUNCIE -- Mark McKinney maintains he has not "done anything wrong" in
accepting payment for work on civil forfeiture cases after taking
office as Delaware County prosecutor in January 2007.

"That was for work I did before I took office," McKinney, who was a
deputy prosecutor for several years before his November 2006
election, said during a Friday interview. "I never billed the city
for anything after I took office."

McKinney was paid $5,969 in attorney fees in 2007, however, on a
handful of civil forfeiture cases, with $4,193 for the seizure of
property and money from accused drug dealer Adrian Kirtz. That case
is among those being investigated after the Muncie-Delaware County
Drug Task Force and McKinney, acting as its attorney, allegedly
distributed more than $50,000 in cash and other property through a
confidential settlement after a judge had ordered the assets frozen.

Last year, McKinney also received a personal check for $8,418 from
auctioneer Noah Mason, who sold property seized from suspected drug
dealers and paid the proceeds to the DTF. State law prohibits
full-time elected prosecutors from maintaining a private law practice.

McKinney said Friday that all the money he received after taking
office as prosecutor in 2007 was for old cases, although most of them
have no court order authorizing the distribution or spending. "I have
not done anything wrong," the prosecutor said.

The State Board of Accounts has raised more questions about drug
forfeiture funds and spending in a draft 2007 audit now being
discussed with city officials.

Along with the $14,677 in attorney fees to McKinney and Deputy
Prosecutor Eric Hoffman for civil forfeiture work, auditors also
questioned $17,873 the DTF spent to pay off a loan on a seized vehicle.

And the draft audit also challenged donations the DTF made to local
youth groups, including $2,000 to the Ball State University football
camp and $1,000 to the Boys and Girls Club, and $428 paid for carpet
installed in the county prosecutor's office.

Public funds cannot be used to make donations to charities, under
state law, and the DTF handed out thousands of dollars in forfeited
drug money to youth.

County Sheriff's Sgt. Greg Ellison, a DTF supervisor, said he had a
hard time getting beat up by the SBA for giving back to the community.

"We sent a bunch of underprivileged kids to the Ball State football
camp," Ellison said about the BSU donation.

And the DTF routinely gave money to local schools to keep kids off
the street and provide sporting and other activities, he said.

The SBA shut down the DTF's checkbook last fall after repeatedly
pointing out forfeited funds were not going to local government
general funds or the common school fund as the law provides.

The city still paid claims for DTF expenses, such as its office
operation and the purchase of two new SUVs, in December 2007, to be
used by DTF undercover officers. About $30,000 was spent on the lease
of those vehicles.

The $17,873 spent to pay off the vehicle was part of Kirtz's
forfeiture that is being reviewed by Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge
John Feick. McKinney has been ordered to explain why the money was
disbursed and spent outside of a court order.

The DTF seized a 2003 GMC Denali, along with a 1993 Kawasaki
motorcycle and other personal property from Kirtz, who is fighting
extradition from Ohio to face drug dealing charges locally. Kirtz
also faces sentencing on federal arson charges and is a witness in
the bribery conspiracy case against attorney Michael Alexander, a
former county prosecutor. The Denali is currently in storage, awaiting auction.

Ellison said local law enforcement took its cue on drug forfeitures
from the federal government , which takes personal property of
alleged dealers and property paid from proceeds of suspected drug buys.

"Drug dealers expect to lose their dope and cash," said Ellison.
"When you take their stuff away from them, that's when you get to them."

The DTF spending was run through city government and major purchases
were approved by the police chief and sheriff.

Former Police Chief Joe Winkle, an ex-DTF officer, recalled how the
SBA criticized DTF spending in each year's audit.

"I talked to the prosecutor and city attorney and both told me it was
OK," said Winkle.

Delaware County Sheriff George Sheridan Jr. said his department had
nothing to do with the DTF checkbook. And the prosecutor's office
handled the forfeiture cases, he added.

"We are literally trying to stay out of this," said Sheridan, saying
he was awaiting the results of a local court investigation into the
handling of forfeiture cases.

McKinney also is the target of a complaint, filed by Mayor Sharon
McShurley, with the Indiana Supreme Court's disciplinary commission,
alleging he misled the courts in the handling of civil forfeiture cases.