LEBANON, TENNESSEE - The former treasurer of a political action committee operated by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Incorporated has been arraigned on charges of stealing more than $70,000 from the organization. <br>
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Thirty-two-year-old Larry Forth Junior of Nashville, Tennessee, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of theft over $60,000, theft over $10,000 and seven counts of forgery. <br>
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Forth is former treasurer of the PAC known as Citizens for Political Accountability. He was indicted December tenth. <br>
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The indictment alleges Forth forged checks on the PAC's account between January 1999 and August 2002. <br>
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A spokeswoman for the restaurant chain told The Lebanon (Tennessee) Democrat newspaper that unusual transactions in the PAC's funds were found in a routine year-end financial review. Spokeswoman Julie Davis also said the company has since recovered the lost money. <br>
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She said Forth left the company in October 2002. <br>
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Forth was manager of political affairs for the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 until April 1998. <br>
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According to Forth's resume, he has also worked for the Tennessee Restaurant Association and former U.S. Representative Roy Rowland of Georgia.<br>
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Paul Housche, Forth's lawyer, declined comment on the charges except to say he has asked that Forth be given pretrial diversion. Under that, a defendant is placed on probation-like status and charges are retired if certain conditions are met. <br>
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Cracker Barrel, based in Lebanon, has 466 restaurants in 41 states.