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Argyle Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger
Thursday, FBI agents arrested the longtime Argyle Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger, 72, and searched the Argyle Fire Depart. However, court documents that could detail the case remained sealed. The FBI arrested Hohenberger at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport while returning home from a Las Vegas trip.
PLANO, Texas – The U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston announced the Eastern District of Texas had indicted former Argyle Fire Chief.
Troy Mac Hohenberger, 72, was named in a federal indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Eastern District of Texas. The indictment charges Hohenberger with multiple federal violations related to the misuse and theft of funds from the Argyle Fire District, Inc. operating account, along with making false statements to the Department of Labor. Hohenberger made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly C. Priest Johnson.
According to the indictment, Hohenberger, while chief of the Argyle Fire Department, is alleged to have taken money from the operating account of the fire district, which received federal funds in the form of Medicare reimbursements, and used over $490,000 of those funds to pay personal credit card bills. The indictment also alleges these personal credit card expenses included cash advances at casinos, payments related to a family member’s business in Hawaii, and other personal uses. In addition, officials allege Hohenberger failed to fund firefighter retirement accounts in the time required by federal regulations. Therefore, he embezzled or stole the funds and made false statements related to the ERISA-qualified firefighter retirement plan on a form submitted to the Department of Labor.
If convicted, Hohenberger faces up to ten years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Labor – EBSA investigated the case.
A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.