The arrest on theft charges of Claude Allen, a former top Bush adviser and previously the most senior African-American on the White House staff, was an apparent fall from power that surprised and mystified his friends and former colleagues.
Allen, who resigned from his post as President George W. Bush's top domestic policy adviser early last month, was arrested on Thursday in Montgomery County, Maryland, where police said he had swindled stores out of more than US$5,000 in refunds.
On Saturday, neighbors and members of his church said they were confident that he would be exonerated.
The police accused Allen of going to stores on more than 25 occasions and buying items, taking them to his car and then returning to the store with his receipt. He would then pick up duplicates of the items he had just bought and return them for a refund, the police said.
Through his lawyer, Allen denied the charges, saying that there was a mix-up concerning his credit card.
Bush said on Saturday that he was saddened by the charges against Allen. He said the information in those charges was different from the account that Allen had given to the White House staff.
"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my chief of staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing," Bush told journalists after a White House briefing on Iraq. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad. When I heard the story last night, I was shocked. And my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment that -- if it's true -- that we were not fully informed."
A longtime conservative, Allen, 45, started his career working for Jesse Helms, the former Republican senator of North Carolina.
A former deputy secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, Allen was nominated in 2003 to a federal appeals court seat, but Senate Democrats blocked him.
He was appointed the president's top domestic policy adviser last year at the start of Bush's second term.
In February, Allen resigned abruptly, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
Earning US$161,000 at the time, Allen was one of the top-paid staffers in the White House.
He is charged with carrying out a felony theft scheme, which can result in a 15-year prison sentence.
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