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Last month, the Pima County Sheriff Department’s then second-in-command, Chris Radtke, was indicted on seven felony charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering and theft of federal funds, according to the Sept. 28 federal indictment. He has since resigned from the department.

FBI investigators say that from January 2011 through February 2016, Radtke and others “conspired to circumvent the restrictions on the use of forfeiture funds� intended for the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers, spending roughly $500,000 on items not related to crime fighting or prevention.

Between February 2015 and January 2016, Nanos submitted departmental requests for nearly $220,000 in transfers to the volunteers fund, according to Pima County Attorney’s Office documents recently obtained by the Star through a public-records request.

“It is my understanding the FBI investigation is near completion, but until then, I am unable to comment,� Nanos wrote in an email Tuesday.

The Star has requested, but not received, records detailing how the funds were spent.

After announcing Radtke’s indictment and resignation in a news release Oct. 10, Nanos has said that he’d ordered a review of the department’s financial practices.

“In regards to RICO money expenditures, there is a stringent process in place with independent review from an outside agency,� Nanos said in the news release, days before announcing the review. “There is also an audit on the back end of all expenditures and we will continue to review all processes to make sure checks and balances are working appropriately.�

RICO funds come from money seized during criminal investigations under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The forfeited funds are distributed to law enforcement agencies to use for enforcement-related activities, and all requests must go through the County Attorney’s Office for approval.

By definition, the sheriff’s auxiliary volunteers meet the requirement. According to the description in the funding request, the volunteers support residents of unincorporated Pima County by performing “numerous functions vital to the overall mission of the Sheriff’s Department.�

Examples of their services listed on the request include patrol, neighborhood watch, conducting traffic control at accidents and crime scenes, performing home security checks, providing fingerprinting services for employment and administrative support duties.

Funding requests show that from August 2010 through January 2016, the Sheriff’s Department received $677,000 in RICO funds, approved for transfer from the Pima County Anti-Racketeering Fund to the auxiliary volunteers account.

No line-item descriptions were included in the request, simply the explanation of the volunteers’ duties.

Nanos submitted three of the funding requests during his time as deputy chief and sheriff. He was appointed by the board of supervisors last July to finish the term of longtime Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who retired last year.

The first request Nanos made was for $27,200 in February 2015. In July of that year he submitted a second request for $150,000, and in late January, Radtke initialed Nanos’ request for $42,200.

The FBI’s investigation into the Sheriff’s Department began after an October 2015 article in the Star about Radtke’s niece operating cafes out of headquarters and the county jail, without a contract and rent-free.

A public-records request showed that the department spent more than $30,000 on equipment and renovations for the spaces, which they initially said were paid for with RICO funds, but later said came out of the department’s general fund.

The indictment includes multiple allegations of conspiracy, several relating to cafe purchases, including nearly $2,000 for custom-designed chalkboards that were used as menu boards in Nikki Thompson’s two cafe locations.

The indictment said Radtke and persons “known and unknown to the grand jury� purposely misled the County Attorney’s Office when requesting funds. As of Friday, no one else has been charged in the case.

Radtke, who is represented by attorney Sean Chapman, has until Nov. 4 to enter a plea agreement, before proceeding to trial Nov. 22.