FORT WORTH — A former Grapevine animal control supervisor has pleaded guilty to bilking Grapevine out of almost $6,000 worth of property, officials confirmed on Thursday.
Lawrence Hopkins, 60, entered his plea on Jan. 9 to a theft charge of $1,500 to $20,000 by a public servant.He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation, officials said. That investigation should take several weeks.Hopkins faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000.An accomplice, Arthur M. Waters, 59, owner of Master Made Feed in downtown Grapevine, was sentenced to five years probation in June. He pleaded guilty to making a false statement to obtain property over $1,500.Both men had been bilking Grapevine city officials since 2007.In the case, Waters bought a cargo trailer, a boat motor and an electric winch for Hopkins, authorities said. But Waters listed the items as dog cages, kennel panels, feed and dog food when he billed Hopkins and the city animal control department.Hopkins signed off on the bill for the city, taking the trailer and other items. He used the $2,620 trailer for the Rhome Fire Department when he served as assistant fire chief there, Grapevine police have said.Rhome fire officials were not aware that the trailer was stolen, Grapevine police said.Hopkins also used the $1,983 boat motor and $1,250 winch for his own personal use.Grapevine police officials have said that they no longer do business with Master Made Feed. The police department oversees the animal shelter.A routine February 2010 police department review of the shelter’s 2008-2009 operations found that thousands of dollars were missing. That discovery led to the charges against Waters and Hopkins and resignation of shelter employees.Hopkins left the shelter in April 2010.In July 2010, Grapevine detectives learned that Hopkins may have taken drugs from the shelter to his home in Aurora in Wise County. He has been charged and indicted on drug possession charges in Wise County, accused of possessing Fatal Plus, a drug used to euthanize animals, as well as tranquilizer ketamine and the sedative Rompun.Information on the status of the drug charges was not available on Thursday.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763, Twitter: @stcrime
