Fmr AZ veterans services head indicted

The former director of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services has been charged with allegedly misusing public money, sidestepping state procurement rules and using his position to hire his wife and son, according to an indictment announced Thursday.

The indictment of Patrick Chorpenning Sr., 62, was announced by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and came after a more than two-year investigation by the Office of the Auditor General.

Chorpenning faces eight felony charges, including four counts of conflict of interest, one count of fraudulent schemes and practices, two counts of misuse of public monies, and one count of violation of procurement code.

His phone number is unlisted, and calls made to two lawyers who have represented him were not returned.

The auditor general's investigation found that Chorpenning (pronounced COR'-pen-ning) authorized the use of more than $1 million in possible violation of several state laws, including creating unadvertised positions for his son and wife.

His wife received more than $114,000 from the department for managing the nursing home's redecorating projects, while his son got nearly $216,000 to apply for federal grants on the department's behalf, according to the report by the auditor general's office.

The report says at least $786,000 in nursing home renovations coordinated by Chorpenning's wife and portions of her and his son's salaries came from the Veterans' Home Fund, which pays for the operation of Arizona's State Veteran Home.

As the renovations were going on and while his wife got a 35 percent raise, the report says Chorpenning directed the nursing home's administrator to cut spending on operations, including decreasing food and dietary staffing, limiting overtime and prohibiting the purchase of nursing home equipment.

``The nursing home administrator stated that it was his belief that Mr. Chorpenning stopped acting in the interest of the veterans, and certainly the nursing home's veterans, and started funneling department monies to his personal friends and family members,'' according to the report.

The report also says that Chorpenning improperly gifted more than $288,000 in public monies to individuals and private corporations, authorized more than $38,000 over four years for gifts and end-of-year banquets for department employees, and circumvented procurement rules by buying more than $382,000 in media and advertising services that were never completely procured.

``These allegations represent a serious misuse not only of public money but of a critical public interest,'' Goddard said in a news release. ``We owe it to (veterans) to ensure the services and benefits they have earned are never inappropriately diverted.''

Chorpenning, a Vietnam veteran, was director of the department from 1999 until concerns surfaced over neglect and mismanagement at the nursing home led to his resignation in March 2007. The facility was fined thousands of dollars after an inspection found patients left in soiled undergarments and smoking cigarettes while unsupervised, among other violations.

At a May 2007 legislative hearing to defend himself, Chorpenning said he was thrown ``under the train'' by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano in response to overblown problems at the nursing home.

``There's a comedy of errors here that have really mushroomed into taking 40 years of public services on my part and destroying it,'' Chorpenning said at the time. ``I would never do anything to put veterans in harm's way.''