MUSKOGEE — A former Mc- Intosh County sheriff and undersheriff who were charged last month with taking confiscated cash from a motorist were caught up in an FBI sting that originated with another traffic stop 19 months ago, court records show.

Terry Alan Jones, 36, and Mykol Travis Brookshire, 38, both of Eufaula, resigned after being charged in federal court with depriving Adan Sandival of his civil rights on allegations that they stole his money during a traffic stop.

The FBI said the Sheriff's Office used its official position to "gain personal benefit through the theft of funds seized from highway stops," according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Muskogee.

County Commissioners selected Joe Hogan of Checotah as the new sheriff two weeks ago.

Jones and Brookshire were involved in a May 21 traffic stop on Business U.S. 69 south of Interstate 40. An undercover FBI employee who had concealed six $5,000 bundles in the spare tire wheel well of the vehicle's trunk was stopped, records show.

In a recorded conversation with Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Darren Lane, Jones said that day that his office had seized $25,000 in U.S. currency from the vehicle, documents show.

In applications to search the Sheriff's Office and Jones' and Brookshire's homes, federal authorities had sought the recovery of $30,000 in cash bearing serial numbers recorded by the FBI, wrapping materials used to package the cash, and any recorded images taken at the scene of the traffic stop.

Five cellophane wrappers were recovered May 22 from the McIntosh County Sheriff's Office in Eufaula, search warrant records show.

U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said Tuesday that authorities have recovered the $30,000.

The investigation of the defendants began after Nov. 5, 2007, when Brookshire, then a deputy, pulled over Marco Antonio Delgado-Hernandez on Interstate 40, a federal affidavit shows.

During a search of Delgado-Hernandez's vehicle, Brookshire found what he reported to be $7,000, records show.

The motorist was released, and the next day, Assistant District Attorney Scott Biggs ordered the money returned to Delgado-Hernandez.

Delgado-Hernandez arrived at the District Attorney's Office in Eufaula on Oct. 27, 2008, to request the return of his money. He left soon thereafter without the money, having been told to return in a couple of weeks, an affidavit for a search warrant says.

Biggs then questioned Sheriff's Office personnel for more than four hours about where the money was, the document says. Jones, who had been away from his office all afternoon, returned about 5:50 p.m. and produced from his desk a yellow envelope containing cash, the affidavit says.

Biggs counted the money and returned it to Jones, who told the prosecutor he didn't want to return the money to Delgado-Hernandez before talking to Brookshire, the document says.

Sperling said Tuesday that the seized money has since been returned to Delgado-Hernandez.

Brookshire arrived at the scene of the May 21 traffic stop after the motorist was detained by another deputy, records show.

The undercover FBI employee was instructed that if stopped, he was to provide vague and misleading information and agree to a search of his vehicle.

The undercover agent was told to sign a release of currency form if he wanted to avoid jail. The agent was released from custody about noon, and a subsequent search of his vehicle conducted by the FBI found that all of the bundles were missing, records show.

The federal investigation of Jones also showed links between him and the relative of a known drug supplier, the affidavit says.

No court date for Jones and Brookshire has been scheduled.

World staff writer Curtis Killman contributed to this story.