Article Courtesy of My Fox Orlando Channel 35   

Published March 19, 2015

SANFORD - The Seminole County Sheriff's Office has arrested a former deputy who resigned from the department last year.

Michael Weippert, 48, is charged with one count of scheme to defraud, which is a third degree felony, based on what the Sheriff's Office is calling discrepancies in Weippert's off-duty time logs. 

According to an investigation, Weippert was hired by the Wekiva and Sweetwater Oaks homeowner associations (HOA) where he was responsible for conducting regular patrols of the communities, responding to calls for service, and handling requests by the respective HOAs. Sheriff's Office investigators found that on the days and times Weippert was serving in an off-duty capacity and reported that he was working for the HOAs, he failed to respond to approximately 30 calls for service in the two communities. Other deputies who were on duty and assigned to the area responded to the calls.

On an additional 20 occasions, Weippert logged off-duty work with the HOAs but cell phone records indicated he was not in the area of either Wekiva or Sweetwater Oaks at those times. Investigators determined that on three of those days he was not in Seminole County.

Investigators found that Weippert made false representations on the HOA time logs and activity reports in order to reflect that he was present in the community on multiple occasions when he was actually not, and that he billed and received compensation from the HOAs for services he did not provide.

Weippert turned himself in to the Volusia County Jail on a $3,000 bond and has since bonded out.

Weippert, a deputy sheriff, was hired by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office in 1986 and retired in August 2014. The Sheriff's Office criminal investigation will be forwarded to the state's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission which reviews officer misconduct and determines if action should be taken against a law enforcement officer's certification.

Weippert is out of jail on bond. The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 18th Judicial Circuit.