A judge on Wednesday dismissed Montgomery County’s attempt to recoup more than $400,000 in taxpayer money allegedly wasted on massive gun discounts for public safety workers.
Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann ruled that officials from a police training company who showered police officers with heavily marked-down guns — in exchange for attending their classes given through the taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program — didn’t defraud the county.
Defendants Det. Aaron Bailey and his company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety, concede they offered discounted handguns and sniper rifles to public safety officials in an effort to swell enrollment.
But it wasn’t illegal, McGann said, because the county never dictated that the money couldn’t be spent on weapons.
“The county made a decision on its own to reimburse folks for attending the classes,” McGann said. “The county wasn’t forced to make this payment. I can only conclude there was an amount of embarrassment by the county that caused them to bring this action.”
The Washington Examiner first reported that more than 200 public safety officials received discounted guns — $600 Glock handguns sold for $99 — during the classes. The county suspended the program in September after learning of the arrangement.
Defense attorney Charles Rand said the company wasn’t required to notify the county of the gun discounts and said it was like “buying lunch” to attract customers.
“Can we use our profits to create a massive advertising campaign to get more business?” he asked the judge. “What’s wrong with that?”
The county eventually obtained fliers for the public safety classes, which showcased the cheap guns.
“They drew you a picture,” McGann said, ripping into the county’s claims of deception by Bailey. “They almost whacked you over the head with it.”
County officials now will have to consider other legal options if they want to reclaim the hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money. They have declined to go after the individual officers who took the courses, saying instead they will seek to reduce paid leave for officers involved in the scandal.
After the ruling, Assistant County Attorney Christopher Hinrichs said the county will “review its options” for reclaiming the money.
