WARTBURG, Tenn. — Authorities said Friday a former officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency pleaded guilty to using his state-issued card to make personal gas purchases over the course of several years.
Travis Buchanan was under investigation in mid-2023, after authorities said between 2008 and 2023 he spent $119,002 on his TWRA gas card. In a release, the TWRA said officials notified an internal auditor that there appeared to be discrepancies in the amount of gas bought for his TWRA-issued pickup truck, exceeding the amount needed to cover its mileage.
An internal investigation began in March 2023, when TWRA said surveillance confirmed that he appeared to be using a state-issued credit card to buy more gasoline than his truck would use. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into the case, and found surveillance that showed him pumping gas into “multiple red five-gallon gas containers in the back of his truck.”…