Officer formally charged with misconduct

[JetPhoto 626]

Officer formally charged with misconduct

Times Herald-Record

September 18, 2007

Goshen — A 20-year veteran of the Orange County Sheriff's Office made an awkward return to his former workplace yesterday to be formally charged with official misconduct.

Lt. Lloyd Kurth is accused of selling confiscated guns that were stored in an evidence room he supervised while he was a sergeant. He's been on paid leave from his $75,000-a-year job for more than a year while the matter was investigated.

"This is not something any law enforcement agency likes to see, especially within their own organization," Sheriff Carl DuBois said after the arrest. "But the good thing about it is, this is the exception. Incidents like this are few and far between."

Kurth denies any wrongdoing.

Before being charged, the linebacker-sized lieutenant appeared in Orange County Court for the prelude to what might ultimately be a guilty plea, if he accepts the offer prosecutors have made.

His lawyer, John Ingrassia, and a prosecutor conferred privately with Orange County Court Judge Jeffrey Berry, who then scheduled them to return to court on Oct. 1.

Nothing was said in open court about the substance of the case.

Kurth, chatting amiably as he walked outside with Ingrassia and his fiancee after the short conference, confined his comments about the case to a brief statement: "I've been a loyal employee of the Sheriff's Office for 20 years."

Prosecutors have invited him to plead guilty to the official misconduct count — a misdemeanor — and resign. Otherwise, he could be indicted by a grand jury on more serious felony charges.

They plan to recommend Kurth spend 60 days in jail, a major sticking point in the negotiations. Ingrassia said yesterday that his client was still undecided.

Which judge would do the sentencing is up in the air. Berry, who said another judge could wind up handling the case, told the lawyers he might recuse himself because Kurth worked in his courtroom years ago when sheriff's deputies provided court security.

As a result of the case, DuBois said, his office has separated firearms and drugs from other materials in its evidence room and entrusted the supervision to three employees — a deputy, a sergeant and a lieutenant — rather than one.

[Guest WolfEMT]

Good job, now he's looking at Federal charges, too.