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Second Santa Barbara County deputy arrested for timecard fraud

August 7, 2026

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

For the second time this year, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested for fraud related to his timecards.

Sheriff’s detectives arrested Custody Sergeant Jeffrey Koeller on Thursday. The arrest came a little more than six months after another custody sergeant was arrested over timecard fraud.

Following the January arrest of former Custody Sergeant Segun Ogunleye, who is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $175,000 in earnings, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office conducted a comprehensive review of overtime coding practices.

The sheriff’s office reviewed 688 timecards containing overtime entries. The review identified one additional timecard with significant anomalies, which led detectives to open a criminal investigation into Koeller. 

Investigators determined Koeller fraudulently claimed and received more than $93,000 worth of compensation for time he did not work. At the time of the alleged fraud, Koeller was serving as a custody sergeant assigned to the Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail.

On Thursday, Koeller surrendered to detectives at the Santa Maria Substation located at 812 W. Foster Road pursuant to an arrest warrant. Authorities later booked him in the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of embezzlement by public officer, grand theft and forgery. 

Koeller’s bail was set at $1,000,000. He currently remains in custody, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office website.

In addition to completing its criminal investigation, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office say it has implemented enhanced internal review controls and oversight measures designed to strengthen accountability, improve timecard review processes by supervisors and help prevent any similar conduct. 

An administrative investigation into Koeller remains ongoing. Koeller is currently on administrative leave.

“This employee’s actions betrayed the public’s trust and our agency. They do not reflect the character of our Sheriff’s Office, or the honest work performed every day by our employees,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement. “The overwhelming majority of our personnel are dedicated public servants of impeccable integrity who serve lawfully and with honor.

“If one of our own violates the trust that has been placed in them, we will investigate thoroughly and hold them accountable to our policies and the law. Furthermore, we will identify any supervisory shortcomings or blind spots and strengthen our systems to prevent any such misconduct from happening again. That is exactly what we are doing in this case.”

 


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14 Comments

Public safety employees have been fleecing the American people for years, makes me wonder what these two did to get called on it. Whoever approved the overtime should go down the road as well. Revoke retirement benefits and give them a day in jail for every hour falsely reported.


4

He was rejected by the CHP and settled for a jail guard job.


4

Common thieve.


3

From transparantcalifornia.com


https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2024/santa-barbara-county/jeffrey-koeller


Koeller’s overtime was much greater than his regular salary in 2024


5

How many time-cards had non-significant anomalies? Please include your definition of “significant”, could it be anything over $75,000 of fraud? Just imagine how much taxpayer money they could have saved had they implemented “enhanced internal review controls and oversight measures” say few years ago, a decade ago, from the start. Why wait to save money, is it only when the fraud gets too big to hide? We know it’s the government way, always willing to waste other peoples money. Now we know part of the reason why governments always need more taxes


27

Start at the bottom with these two then work up to our crooked attorney general and governor jail time for all criminals involved.


3

Cop & firemen normalities


15

Including finding themselves permanently disabled and magically moving themselves to another state to retire comfortably on tax payer funded disability. It is a thing that all of them aspire to acquire.


0

You can ignore known reality all you want with down votes. It is a known maneuver in the first responder tier. Of which, our families have many honorable members that have shared their knowledge and disdain with us on the matter.


8

Jeffrey koeller

Mic-drop.


-3

ATown rebel owns your mind it would appear.


4

*picks mic up


Segun Ogunleye


2

One million dollar bail for this non-violent crime but if you violently carjack someone and send them to the hospital you get released on your own recognizance…


12

Complain all you want about own recognizance releases for carjacking, but please don’t complain about a $1M bail for this “alleged” criminal. Even after all the cop-splaining from the sheriff, I bet there is zero timecard forgery going on right at this second—not even insignificant “anomalies”. But that won’t last long. Our “dedicated public servants of impeccable integrity” will be right back at it, even in the face of “enhanced internal review controls and oversight measures” resulting from a “comprehensive review of overtime coding practices.”

None of the hollow boilerplate the sheriff put out—about the “public’s trust,” the “character of our Sheriff’s Office,” or the “honest work performed… by our employees”—is going to make any of it true. Give me a break!

Finally: “Koeller is currently on administrative leave.” Paid, I’m sure—just to give him enough time to quietly retire.


-2