A former deputy with the Carroll County Sheriff’s office was sentenced to four years of unsupervised probation and ordered to pay more than $13,000 in court costs, fines and restitution on Tuesday, Oct. 22, after pleading guilty in an agreement with prosecutors to three felony charges stemming from allegations that he submitted false timesheets.
Special Judge David Ray Goodson sentenced Blake Gordon Ringberg, 54, after accepting the plea agreement, in which prosecutors agreed not to pursue 23 other felony charges against Ringberg.
Ringberg pleaded guilty to single counts of theft of property, second-degree forgery and tampering with a public record. Additionally, Ringberg agreed to relinquish his law enforcement certification and never to seek employment as a law enforcement officer in Arkansas or seek reinstatement of his certification as a law enforcement officer in Arkansas.
Ringberg, who was represented by local attorney Chris Flanagin, had originally pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of tampering with a public record, nine counts of abuse of office, five counts of second- degree forgery and a single count of theft of property.
Ringberg was arrested Dec. 14, 2023, after an Arkansas State Police investigation.
An arrest affidavit written by ASP Special Agent Jana Cordes said the ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division was contacted on Sept. 14, 2022, by the Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The prosecutor’s office requested an investigation into money “missing” from the selective traffic enforcement program (S.T.E.P.) program at the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the affidavit, the prosecutor’s office said Ringberg and another deputy had been collecting S.T.E.P. overtime money without proper documentation in 2022. The Carroll County Clerk estimated the grand total to be $11,622.36.
S.T.E.P. is a federally funded grant administered by the ASP, the affidavit says. The grant requires law enforcement officers to conduct traffic stops and write citations for various offenses. Officers are required to keep a daily log of vehicles and persons stopped and whether those drivers are issued a citation or a warning.
Ringberg was the S.T.E.P. coordinator for the sheriff’s office, the affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, a state auditor based in Harrison, Lance Woodward, told ASP Special Agent Drew Widner that he had received “minimal information” from Ringberg.
“Lance Woodward stated he requested the proper documentation for the 2022 S.T.E.P. program from Blake Ringberg,” the affidavit says. “Lance Woodward said Blake Ringberg brought child support papers from Texas, and the S.T.E.P. agreement which was signed by Blake Ringberg. The worksheets showing time, dates and vehicles stopped by the deputies working the S.T.E.P. program for year 2022 have not been given to Lance Woodward to this date.”
The county clerk’s office produced the time sheets for Ringberg and another deputy for the year 2022, the affidavit says, while the ASP produced the hours and dates worked for each deputy who participated in the S.T.E.P. program in 2022. The sheriff’s office provided radio logs for 2022. The affidavit says there are no radio log entries, written warnings or citations issued by Ringberg or another deputy for S.T.E.P. hours that were claimed to have been worked in 2022.
Ringberg worked for the sheriff’s office from January 30, 2018, until resigning during the ASP investigation. He later worked for the Eureka Springs Police Department. ESPD Chief Billy Floyd said Ringberg was suspended without pay in March 2023, because of theASP investigation, and resigned in June 2023.
