A former supervisor in the Seattle office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pleaded not guilty this morning to charges of embezzling money from a fund for confidential informants and making false statements.
The one-time agent, James Contreras, 52, of Maple Valley, entered the plea through his attorney in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Contreras was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle last month on one count of embezzlement and 30 counts of making false statements. The indictment alleged he repeatedly took money from a cash account he supervised.
If convicted, Contreras could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on the embezzlement count and five years for each false-statement count.
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