Ben Shoulders, a name that once carried authority as a Vanderburgh County Commissioner, is now entangled in a web of allegations and legal woes. The accusation on the table? Misusing campaign funds to feed a collector’s frenzy for high-value baseball cards.
The plot thickens as a probable cause affidavit, a rather fancy legal term, made its grand entrance in the Vanderburgh Circuit Court. The narrative painted within this document was not one of political maneuvering but of financial missteps. It detailed how Shoulders allegedly let loose his campaign funds on eBay, to the tune of over $41,000. That’s a lot of dollars flying out the window, or should we say, swiping out the eBay checkout?
Among the loot that caught the investigators’ keen eye were a $235 Johnny Bench rookie card and a $570 Satchel Paige card. Here’s the kicker – these gems were not listed as what they truly were on campaign documents. Nope, they were cleverly disguised as mundane “signs” and “banner.” A failed sleight of hand, it seems.
While most expenses seemed to blend in with the crowd, these baseball card entries, coupled with another eyebrow-raising purchase of nearly $500 worth of Pokémon cards, took the spotlight. Labeled as “signs” at a local store, it was a sign indeed – a sign that things were about to hit the fan for Shoulders.
The fire caught wind when Shoulders himself dialed up the Evansville Police Department, waving the red flag of fraudulent activity on his campaign account in October 2023. Claiming he had misplaced his debit card back in April, he washed his hands clean of any knowledge of the charges that popped up between May and August. A classic case of “It wasn’t me!”
However, little did Shoulders know that the web of evidence was intricately woven around him. Records pointing to him as the sole authorized user of the account, and transactions merrily prancing along post his claim of card loss, painted a less convincing picture of innocence.
The trail of breadcrumbs didn’t stop there. Email records spilled the beans on multiple purchases of rare baseball cards from eBay, the likes of 1965 and 1967 Mickey Mantle cards, and a 1966 Willie Mays card, all leading their way to Shoulders’ doorstep. The campaign account was allegedly the golden goose that funded this collector’s dream.
In a desperate bid to cover his tracks, Shoulders attempted to seek refuge in reimbursement. A whopping $26,000 claim was pushed toward Old National Bank’s fraud department, citing those pesky fraudulent charges. The bank, unimpressed by the smoke and mirrors, swiftly shut down this request. It’s safe to say this wasn’t a winning play in the game of financial charades.
Just a month after this failed attempt at financial juggling, Shoulders gracefully bowed out of the commissioner’s chair, citing it as an “honor to serve.” A poetic exit, you might call it, as the spotlight shifted from public service to legal proceedings.
With the weight of the law looming over his head, Shoulders found himself in the eye of the storm – arrested and charged with a medley of offenses. From attempted fraud to filing false reports, the deck of legal cards wasn’t stacked in his favor. A $500 bond acted as a temporal shield as he braced for the impending court appearance.
But wait, there’s more! The plot thickened further as discrepancies involving charitable donations checks unfolded. Instead of finding their way to the intended destination, they took a detour into a business account under Shoulders’ watchful gaze. A twist in the tale, showcasing a trail of financial missteps that seemed to grow longer by the revelation.
As the legal curtains drew close on this chapter of Shoulders’ life, the glare of public scrutiny and legal consequences painted a vivid picture of actions gone awry. The once-commissioner now stood at a crossroads, where the echoes of alleged misdeeds reverberated louder than the cheers of past accomplishments.
