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Former Taney County Health Department Official Sentenced for Stealing Money

Monday, October 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM

By Scott McCaulley X @smcckc

The former Chief Operating and Financial Officer for the Taney County Health Department will be spending four and a half years in Federal Prison after admitting to stealing money from the department.

According to federal court documents recapped by the Branson Tri-Lakes News, Hugo Ricardo Huacuz received his sentence in a Federal Court in Springfield on October 2. 

According to previous reporting, Huacuz pleaded guilty in February to one count of wire fraud, two counts of stealing federal funds, one count of money laundering and one count of aggravated identity theft. He admitted to setting up a company with his wife and forged invoices that made it appear that the department were buying items from a pharmaceutical company but instead the money was going to him. He admitted to the embezzlement of around $259,000. 

A complete recap of the sentencing can be found on the Branson Tri-Lakes News Website.

(Jason Wert of the Branson Tri-Lakes News contributed information to this story)

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