MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie government official and a local businessman have been charged with fraud-related charges in federal court.

Tracy Barton, a former Delaware County Council member and current superintendent of sewer maintenance for the Muncie Sanitary District, faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, falsification of documents in a federal investigation and witness tampering, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday afternoon.

Jeffrey Burke, owner of McGalliard Guns and More, faces charges of bank fraud, making false statements to an FBI agent and obstruction of grand jury proceedings.

Revelation of the charges followed reports of the arrest of two people by federal authorities during a sweep of Muncie-area locations Tuesday morning.

According to the Department of Justice, Barton and Burke appeared in federal court in Indianapolis for an initial hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Barton's charges stem from the allegation he steered Muncie Sanitary District contracts to preferred contractors and that Barton "and other city employees solicited and accepted kickbacks in the form of cash, cash equivalents and check contributions."

The indictments, released to The Star Press, alleged that Barton "falsified documents" and "intimidated" at least one person from talking to the FBI. The latter allegation appears to figure into his witness tampering charge.

Barton, 49, is a veteran political player who has since 2013 supervised the sewer maintenance division of the Muncie Sanitary District.

Barton comes from a family active in Democratic Party politics and was a member of Delaware County Council in the 1990s and early 2000s.

On Tuesday at the sewer maintenance office for the Sanitary District along Kilgore Avenue – the scene of an FBI raid in May 2017 – The Star Press asked for Barton and was told he wasn’t there. A Sanitary District co-worker said employees couldn’t comment and hurriedly left when asked if Barton had been arrested at the sewer maintenance office that morning.

Burke, besides the gun store, is the owner of rental and investment properties around the city and the indictment cites his purchase, in fall 2015, of a flea market building in the 1700 block of East Jackson Street. As detailed by The Star Press in early 2016, before the existence of the FBI investigation was known, Burke bought the building for $150,000 and sold it a little more than a month later to the Muncie Sanitary District for $395,000.

The indictment says that Burke, 57, obtained an out-of-state loan that was not to be used to purchase real estate but used the proceeds to buy the flea market property.

The former owner of the flea market, Carl Barber, told The Star Press in early 2016 he felt like there must have been collusion between Burke and the Sanitary District since Burke knew to buy the building and immediately re-sell it. District officials have denied collusion.

But in Tuesday's indictment, "It was further part of the scheme that Burke caused the Muncie Sanitary District to approve the purchase of the flea market."

Burke also impeded the FBI investigation of his financial dealings, the indictment alleges.

Before the names of Burke and Barton were released, the fact that arrests had been made was confirmed to The Star Press by a Department of Justice spokesman just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The FBI was active in the Muncie area Tuesday morning, FBI spokeswoman Chris Bavender confirmed to The Star Press. She referred further questions to the Department of Justice.

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The confirmation from DOJ capped a series of reports of FBI activity at Muncie and Yorktown locations Tuesday morning.

“The city of Muncie deserves better from its public officials,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “Public servants are appointed to serve the public, and not the other way around.”

The arrests come less than two weeks after FBI agents raided the Yorktown home of Jess Neal, a Muncie police officer.

The arrests follow an ongoing FBI investigation of allegations of criminal wrongdoing in the city government administration of Mayor Dennis Tyler. The Star Press revealed the existence of the FBI probe in May 2016. Then-Building Commissioner Craig Nichols in February 2017 was charged with 34 counts and has agreed to plead guilty to two counts, wire fraud and money laundering.

As with the Nichols indictment, the indictments of Barton and Burke don't disclose the names of some people allegedly victims or participants in the schemes and indicate that actions were taken which could only be taken by officials not yet facing indictment.

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Keith Roysdon is the government watchdog reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5828 and kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com.