Man who misspent money meant for Pierce County veterans sentenced to work release

A man who was fired from the Pierce County Veterans Bureau after he was accused of misusing money that was meant to help veterans has been sentenced.

Clyde Drury III, 60, pleaded guilty earlier this year to third-degree theft as part of negotiations with prosecutors.

Both the prosecution and defense recommended a sentence of 30 days in a work-release facility for the former program manager of the Veterans Bureau, and Thurston County Superior Court Judge Erik Price agreed Thursday.

Drury's attorney, Michael Stewart, said the case was moved to Thurston County partly so that Drury could serve his sentence at a work-release facility there.

Also charged in the case was 60-year-old Douglas Glenn Bliss, Drury's friend. He pleaded guilty to third-degree theft in February and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.

Drury was fired in 2015 after a county investigation found that he misspent more than $36,000 meant for veterans programs.

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A fellow Veterans Bureau employee raised concerns about large checks being written to a company Bliss ran.

Drury said that was for a housing project for veterans, according to charging papers, but both he and Bliss were vague about the details of that project.

"Many of the homeless veterans unfortunately had criminal histories," Stewart said Friday. "Which made housing them very difficult. The program had lofty goals that did not meet expectations, and the program was terminated."

Charging papers said a bank account for the business showed payments to grocery stores, restaurants, taverns and a trip to Arizona but no indications of veteran housing.

Stewart said Drury did not personally benefit from the housing program funds but that he agreed to pay back $12,000 ahead of sentencing.

That's also what Bliss agreed to pay.

Stewart noted that it was difficult to prove some of Drury's work activities. For example, distributing clothes and food at homeless encampments.

"There's not a receipt that you get or proof that those services were delivered," Stewart said. "The county believed that every time there wasn't proper documentation that it was theft. That's simply not the case."

The Veterans Bureau is now called the Veterans Assistance Program and is overseen by the Pierce County Department of Human Services.

The head of Human Services, Peter Ansara, wrote the court earlier this year: "As you consider final judgment for the defendant, please consider all those who have served and died. The fact that the defendant has egregiously taken from the most vulnerable veterans and receives military pension benefits just doesn't square right."

Drury is a retired Air Force senior master sergeant.

Click here to read the full story from Alexis Krell on the Tacoma News Tribune.

Tacoma News Tribune