ANOTHER TWIST TO THE IOWA PEPPER MILL 

From the Editor: In both the January and February, 1990, issues 
of the Braille Monitor we carried articles about the theft 
of funds from the Iowa Department for the Blind (formerly the Iowa 
Commission for the Blind) by its accountant, Terry Pepper. There have 
now been further developments. For one thing, Iowa's Governor (Terry 
Branstad) has made public statements to reassure the citizens of Iowa 
that state government is really not as sloppy and irresponsible as 
the Pepper episode would indicate. He said that the whole unfortunate 
situation could be explained on the basis that Pepper's boss was blind. 
When I was in Iowa, I got to know Branstad quite well. He was a young 
legislator at the time, one who would hardly have been suspected of 
planning to run for governor. At the dinner table and under other 
circumstances I was exposed to the future governor's method of reasoning. 
Therefore, I cannot say that I was totally surprised by the comments 
which he allegedly made. I use the term "allegedly" with deliberation
because credulity (regardless of how well founded) has its limits. 

Be that as it may, Governor Branstad's remarks were reported in the 
January 30, 1990, edition of the Des Moines Register. A response, 
which was straight to the point and should cause the governor to do 
some reconsidering, appeared in the February 13, 1990, Des Moines 
Register. The response was made by Dana Harr, a former student 
of the Iowa Commission for the Blind. As will be observed, she reminds 
the governor that Pepper's stealing began when the Iowa Department 
for the Blind was administered by a sighted person. Moreover, the 
theft went undetected by officials (all of them sighted) in the state 
comptroller's office and the office of the state auditor. 
As a follow-up and almost as an anticlimax, Pepper's sentencing was 
reported in the February 27, 1990, Des Moines Register. Hopefully 
this disgraceful episode can be seen in perspective. The theft of 
the money was the least of the damage done to the blind of Iowa and 
their programs. Not all of the members of the public in Iowa will 
be taken in by the foolishness that Pepper's theft was possible because 
his boss was blind. Here are the relevant articles from the Des 
Moines Register: 
 
                 Branstad: Theft by Official Not Typical 
                           by Thomas A. Fogarty 
 
The theft of nearly $103,000 of taxpayers' money by a former state 
official is an aberration, and not a reflection of inadequate financial 
safeguards in Iowa state government, Governor Terry Branstad said 
Monday.  "This was a unique situation," Branstad said of the case of 
Terry Pepper, the number 2 administrator at the Iowa Department for 
the Blind until his resignation last September. 

Pepper pleaded guilty to theft charges January 12 in Polk County District 
Court. Pepper admitted depositing $61,000 in checks written to the 
agency into his personal bank account. In addition, a report by the 
state auditor identified another $41,598 in personal bills that Pepper 
managed to have paid off by state-issued checks. No charges were filed 
in connection with the theft identified in the auditor's report. 
Much of the money was used to lavishly decorate Pepper's West Des 
Moines condominium, according to the auditor's report. 

"I was shocked," Branstad said of the theft. "We're taking action to
recover all the money that was taken." However, Branstad said financial
controls in state agencies generally are adequate. Pepper, who can see, was
able to steal over a period of years by taking advantage of his boss, Creig
Slayton, who is blind, Branstad said. "He took advantage of Slayton, who is
director of the department, by misleading him and not telling him the truth
about what was on certain vouchers and statements," Branstad said. "The
controls were adequate, but this individual, because of his knowledge and
experience, was able to take money from that agency."

Pepper, who is awaiting sentencing, has agreed to make restitution. 
Branstad declined to say whether he believes Pepper deserves imprisonment 
for the theft. "That's a matter for the courts to determine," he said. 
 
                     Stories Disclose Discrimination 
 
To The Editor: 

On January 13 and then again on January 30, the Register has 
reported that Terry Pepper's ability to steal large amounts of money 
from the Iowa Department for the Blind was in some way contingent 
on the fact that Pepper's supervisor, Creig Slayton, the director 
of the department, is blind. In the second article, Governor Branstad 
adopted this explanation to assure Iowans that other agencies of state 
government are not so vulnerable. In light of the fact that one of 
the principal goals of the Department for the Blind is to remove
discriminatory barriers to the employment of blind persons, it should be
noted that Pepper's thieving from the blind agency began when the director
was a sighted individual and that it was not detected in annual audits 
conducted by sighted auditors.... 

If the governor of Iowa and the readers of the Des Moines Register 
buy this explanation of the theft which is based on the stereotype 
of the vulnerability of blind persons to exploitation by the rest 
of the community, then the money Terry Pepper stole is no damage at 
all compared to the setback in positive attitudes toward blindness 
that he has brought about. 
--Dana K. Harr and Barclay Kuhn, 2905 S.E. 20th Street, Des Moines. 

                         Ex-Blind Agency Official
                           Jailed for 10 Years 
                             by Kellye Carter 
 
Terry Pepper was sentenced Monday [February 26] to 10 years in prison 
for stealing nearly $103,000 from the Iowa Department for the Blind, 
where he was a top administrator. Pepper, of 1100 50th Street, West Des
Moines, showed no emotion as Judge George Bergeson sentenced him. He was
led away in handcuffs by a sheriff's deputy. Pepper also was ordered to pay
back the money he took. Pepper would not get probation, Bergeson said,
because "I think it's important to protect the public from people like
you." 

Pepper will not appeal the sentence, said his lawyer, Robert Kromminga. 
Pepper has liquidated almost all his assets to pay back nearly half 
of what he took, Kromminga said. He said he wasn't surprised by the
sentence.  "The judge's attitude was `When people embezzle $100,000, they
need to find out what jail is all about,'" Kromminga said. 

Until he resigned last September when investigators discovered the 
theft, Pepper was the number 2 administrator at the Department for 
the Blind, where he worked for eight years. 

A report by State Auditor Richard Johnson's office told of an elaborate 
scheme in which Pepper arranged for the state to pay for thousands 
of dollars in personal items such as home furnishings, clothing, and 
stereo equipment. 

Deputy State Auditor Kasey Kiplinger said Pepper's case is perhaps 
the largest misappropriation of public money in Iowa in his two decades 
in the auditor's office. 

Pepper stole money from the state by arranging for the issuance of 
state checks to pay personal charge accounts and by depositing checks 
written to the agency in his personal bank account, according to the 
auditor's report.