MT. OLIVET, Ky. — Many in one of Kentucky's smallest counties were shocked Wednesday by news that the former chief of the Robertson County Volunteer Fire Department and his wife are accused of stealing public funds.
Larry and Angela Burden were indicted on several charges after Kentucky State Police say they used more than $100,000 dollars in public money for personal gain between January 2014 and February 2023.
Many in the small town of Mt. Olivet knew the Burdens.
"The Larry situation, it's just sad," Dewey Cooper said.
Dewey and his wife Patty Cooper said it was hard for them to hear the Burdens were under investigation as they'd always been out helping the community.
"Larry has always been great," Patty Cooper said.
"Larry has always done what's been needed by the judge," Dewey Cooper also said. "If she needed something, he took care of it and he's down my road every week. It's a dead end road, he's always checking the roads."
Despite knowing, and liking, the Burdens, Dewey Cooper said he did what he needed to do while sitting on the Grand Jury considering bringing charges against them.
He said he voted to indict with a heavy heart based on the evidence against them.
"I had to," he said. "I could have abstained, I guess, but I had to. It was all 12 of us."
"You can't do things like that," Patty Cooper said.
Dewey Cooper said that there was too much incriminating paperwork — roughly a stack of papers 10 inches tall — from investigators.
After their arrest, a judge ordered the Burdens to be held at the Bourbon County Detention Center on a $114,000 cash bond each.
"I'm hoping they can work something out with him," Patty Cooper said.
Dewey Cooper said he hoped the couple could avoid a trial or prison time.
"Maybe restitution? I don't know. It's going to take awhile," he said. "I mean, if it was $1,000 or something it's different, but that figure? That's tough."
Kentucky State Police and Circuit Prosecutors declined to comment when asked due to the pending litigation.
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