Former Mass. deputy sheriff pays $65K ethics fine

A former Bristol County Deputy Sheriff paid $65,000 in fines for committing an ethics violation, the State Ethics Commission said in a statement Thursday.

Floyd Teague conducted a public auction where he bid on a house in the place of his spouse, the statement said. Teague and his wife later renovated the house and sold it for a profit, according to the Ethics Commission. 

Of the $65,000 fine, the SEC said $40,000 is for civil penalties and $25,000 is for economic advantage damages. 

Part of Teague’s duties as deputy sheriff included auctioning property, the statement said. In March of 2023, the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office oversaw the auction of an unoccupied home, according to the SEC. Teague, while acting as Deputy Sheriff, posted the Notice of Sale for the home. Part of the notice, according to the SEC, stipulated prospective buyers must have $5,000 cash or a certified check on hand to participate in the auction. 

The SEC said Teague and his wife discussed the auction and they decided he would place a $20,000 bid on her behalf. Teague announced the $5,000 stipulation at the auction, the statement said. 

“Teague then announced he had a $20,000 bid and declared, ‘going once, going twice, sold for $20,000,’ concluding the auction,” the statement said.

The Disposition Agreement of the incident said none of the people present got the chance to bid before Teague closed the auction.

The SEC confirmed Teague’s wife did not provide $5,000 in cash or certified check before or after the auction. She did give him a check for the $20,000 bid some time after the auction, the statement said. 

After the auction, the SEC said Teague “assisted” his wife with renovating the home. She spent around $44,000 on renovations, the statement said. Then, the SEC said, she posed as a real estate agent and sold the home for $309,900. Tax returns from the couple showed they did not list any gains from the sale, according to the Disposition Agreement.

The statement clarified how Teague violated conflict of interest laws by agreeing to place a bid from his spouse, conducting the auction when he knew his spouse was bidding, and allowing his spouse to bypass the $5,000 stipulation.

“When public employees in the exercise of their official authority act to enrich themselves and their families rather than to serve the public interest, they betray the public’s trust and undermine their fellow citizens’ confidence in the integrity of public service and government institutions,” said SEC Executive Director David Wilson. “The conflict of interest law strictly prohibits such misconduct.”