Gambling Embezzlement at Fort Gillem, Ga.Crime Lab

Beyond missteps, military crime lab roils with discontent
By MARISA TAYLOR
McClatchy Newspapers

The military's premier crime lab should be a place of sober scientific research, but lately it seems more like the set of a soap opera consumed with scandal and intrigue.

In less than four years, at least six internal investigations have been launched and six complaints filed against managers. The accusations and counter-accusations include racism, sexual harassment, assault and fraud.

Amid the upheaval and finger-pointing, a lab analyst was convicted of embezzling almost $70,000 from a professional association to pay for his gambling addiction.

At one point, misconduct by an employee prompted an FBI search of one of the lab's offices. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Allen Southmayd, a 63-year-old handwriting expert.

Southmayd had a serious gambling problem, court records indicate. After he joined the lab in 2000, he began to write checks to himself from a professional organization where he served as treasurer. He spent the money from the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners at casinos. In 2007, the group caught on and Southmayd resigned from the lab. He pleaded guilty to embezzling in federal court and was sentenced to probation.

(Michael Doyle and Tish Wells contributed to this report.)