When Seth Andrew Barker served as assistant chief at the Big Sky Fire Department, he allegedly stole about $80,000 over the years and made use of agency resources for various unauthorized purposes, including for profit and sex, according to charges filed in District Court.

It’s alleged that sometime after Dustin Tetrault became chief of the Big Sky Fire Department in summer 2024, he noticed some irregularities. It appeared Barker had claimed hours worked on a timecard when no work was performed, and that he had used a BSFD credit card for purchases not related to his duties from November 2019 to December 2024, according to a Nov. 4 affidavit filed by prosecutor Dorothy Brownlow.

This suspicion reportedly led BSFD to hire Wipfli LLP to conduct a forensic accounting audit, the results of w

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