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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAccording to a sworn affidavit, Polk County Utilities leadership contacted the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office in August after discovering that a county employee\u2014identified as Cody Diehl, a lead operator with the Utilities Bio-Wizard team\u2014had allegedly been quietly diverting county assets for more than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detectives say Diehl built a close relationship with members of a Colombian utilities team after participating in an international competition with them. After returning home, Diehl allegedly began coordinating what he portrayed as a \u201cdonation drive,\u201d claiming Polk County would be sending equipment to help their Colombian counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supervisors reportedly told him no county equipment was authorized for donation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite that, investigators say Diehl:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Opened communication with an international freight company<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Arranged a shipping container to be sent from Polk County to Colombia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Loaded the container with new and used county-owned utility equipment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Used his county-issued purchasing card to acquire additional items<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Acted alone by timing the shipments during his weekend work shifts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A detailed inventory completed during the investigation documented an estimated $63,056.25 in government equipment removed and shipped overseas. Of that amount, approximately $17,000 in items were allegedly purchased using Diehl\u2019s government purchasing card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside Diehl\u2019s desk, investigators found handwritten plans outlining his intent to move to Colombia, including notes on cost-of-living, transportation, and living arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April 2025, Diehl coordinated the pickup of the shipping container and had it transported to Port Everglades for export. Once it arrived in Colombia, authorities there immediately placed it on hold due to improper import documentation. The container remained held for months and accumulated roughly $58,000 in storage penalties, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
County officials attempted to recover the stolen equipment, but the container was ultimately seized by the Colombian government, resulting in a complete loss of all assets inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diehl\u2019s Statements<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a recorded interview, Diehl admitted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 He arranged the shipment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 He placed the official seal and lock on the container<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The items inside belonged to Polk County<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 He acted alone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He reportedly told investigators he believed the equipment was being \u201cloaned\u201d to Colombia and would eventually be returned \u2014 but he could not provide a single document, approval, or agreement showing the County or the Colombian government had authorized such a loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detectives pointed out that his own emails and statements before shipment referred to the equipment as a donation, not a loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on the investigation, Diehl is accused of carrying out a year-long, intentional plan to steal county property and traffic it internationally. He is charged with violating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 F.S. 812.019(2) \u2013 Dealing in stolen property<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 F.S. 817.034(4)(A)1 \u2013 Organized fraud<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the affidavit, the theft occurred continuously from April 2024 through April 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What started as a routine internal review within Polk County Utilities quickly turned into a year-long theft investigation involving government equipment, international shipping, and plans to permanently relocate overseas. According… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMTFcLzU4MzA5NjU3MF8xMjIxODgwODY1MTI1NDk4OTlfMjY2NDE4NDcyMzUwNTkxMTA0N19uLndlYnA_Zml0PTUyMSUyQzU2NSZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlBvbGsgQ291bnR5IFV0aWxpdGllcyBFbXBsb3llZSBBY2N1c2VkIG9mIFN0ZWFsaW5nICQ2MywwMDAgaW4gQ291bnR5IEVxdWlwbWVudCBcdTIwMTQgVGhlbiBTaGlwcGluZyBJdCB0byBDb2xvbWJpYSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9._PuZ13gwtB_h2dNOSSgFT8__9BJrOnaSRyO5I4Bsr2YMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":59047,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/583096570_122188086512549899_2664184723505911047_n.webp","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[12575,12574],"class_list":["post-59046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-000-in-county-equipment-then-shipping-it-to-colombia","tag-polk-county-utilities-employee-accused-of-stealing-63"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59048,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59046\/revisions\/59048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}