The Guardian has obtained the personnel file of a now-former Ross County deputy under criminal investigation. You may recall, the Guardian was the first to tell you that a deputy was forced to resign after allegations he was stealing money intended for drug informants.
The personnel file was given to the Guardian after a public records request submitted to the Ross County Sheriff’s office. Inside the nearly-75 page dossier, the deputy has no noticeable disciplinary actions of record, except missing a scheduled sexual harassment training several years ago.
The file is full of dozens of certificates of achievement and accomplishments, mostly from continuing education courses throughout his time with the Sheriff’s office.
According to the file, the deputy was hired in 2009 by the Sheriff’s office as a corrections officer making $11 an hour before moving to road patrol in 2011. In 2014, the Sheriff assigned the deputy to the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force, where in 2015, he was promoted to Detective Sergeant. When he resigned on June 12, he was making $21 an hour, according to records.
The deputy was allegedly forced into a resignation or would be fired, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge to the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly speak on the record. The forced resignation comes on the heels of Ross County Sheriff George Lavendar requesting Ohio BCI to launch a criminal investigation into allegations that the detective was pocketing money intended to pay drug informants.
Sheriff Lavendar did not return calls to the Guardian last week when asked to comment, nor did task force commander Jon Long. A spokesperson for BCI declined to comment on the investigation on Thursday.
Because no criminal charges have been formally filed at this time, the Guardian is choosing not to name the former deputy, however, it is believed that the case will be presented to an upcoming session of Grand Jury.
