Fugitive Ala. cop to be sent back from Vegas

updated 5:59 p.m. ET Jan. 8, 2009

LAS VEGAS - A fugitive police sergeant said Thursday he won't contest being sent back to Alabama, where he's accused of faking his abduction, stealing evidence money and flying to Las Vegas to try to win enough money to pay off personal debts.

"I want to go back to Alabama," Faron White, 48, told Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Smith, who gave authorities 30 days to move White from Nevada to Alabama, where he faces dismissal from the Decatur police force and prosecution on a felony theft charge.

White appeared by closed-circuit video from the Clark County jail, where he is being held without bail. He was not represented in court by a lawyer.

Authorities in Alabama said White worked late Friday and was reported missing Saturday, spurring fears of foul play before federal marshals arrested him Monday in the lobby of a hotel off the Las Vegas Strip.

Confiscated drug money
Investigators think White stole about $70,000 in confiscated drug money from a safe in his police unit, which targeted drug dealers, gamblers and organized crime, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday in Alabama's Morgan County.

The document was submitted in support of an arrest warrant for Sarah Richardson, a police volunteer accused of helping White make it look like he struggled with someone before disappearing.

Authorities say Richardson, 29, was romantically involved with White, a decorated police veteran and married father of three who lived in Falkville, Ala., and was Decatur's 2007 American Legion officer of the year.

The affidavit alleges Richardson drove White to the airport in Nashville early Saturday morning. She faces a felony charge of hindering prosecution.

Police say Richardson planned to join White in Las Vegas, where he would try to win money to pay off gambling and other debts.

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