Two DUI cases were dismissed recently over allegations of a “bounty” being placed on two county residents by the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office…
— from the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN, April 14, 2022.
I enjoyed a cup of coffee with local activist Rob Keating the other day, to chat about the recent dismissal of charges brought against him, resulting from an arrest made by Archuleta County Sheriff Deputies Shane Bracken and Michael Sindelar on October 5, 2019, for an alleged DUI.
Shane Bracken has since resigned from the Sheriff’s Office.
A story about of the dismissal was shared, from a certain perspective, in last week’s Pagosa Springs SUN, in an article written by SUN editor Terri House.
Some Daily Post readers may remember Mr. Keating from his campaign for Archuleta County Sheriff in 2018, when he ran — unsuccessfully — against incumbent Sheriff Richie Valdez.
During that campaign, Mr. Keating questioned Sheriff Valdez’ competence and ethics, something that typically happens during a political campaign. But in 2018, Sheriff Valdez was indeed in the midst of a serious political and financial controversy, concerning $2.2 million worth of surplus military equipment acquired by the Sheriff’s Office that the County Finance Office could not account for, and as a result, could not complete its required 2017 audit paperwork.
Or maybe $2.6 million? The amount of unaccounted-for equipment, obtained through the federal 1033 Program, was never fully clarified, despite an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
We can do a quick review of that controversy.
In early 2019, CBI interviewed a number of County employees and elected officials, inside and outside the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) and that Archuleta County Director of Finance, Larry Walton, told CBI that, based on the lack of adequate record-keeping related to the 1033 program, he was concerned about thievery and fraud within the Sheriff’s Office.
According to Mr. Walton, in Archuleta County Policies, “only the Board of County Commissioners can execute an intergovernmental agreement or grant agreements and this particular agreement would have been classified as one or both of those. And was not reported to us and involved a large amount of stuff that had not been reported to us, so at this point, I suspect there might be some form of fraud, so I reported that to [County Administrator] Bentley Henderson…”
“I am outraged that the branch of government that is supposed to enforce laws, who routinely pick people up for stealing and things of that nature, would consider themselves in a category where they could effectively do the same thing, take property that doesn’t belong to them and use it for their own purpose without any accountability whatsoever… And I believe that will be extremely important for this county’s future because we have trust issues with the general public and if they, if they end up thinking [County officials] can do just whatever they want, they’re never going to give us enough money to rebuild our infrastructure. There are already huge trust issues between the county and the general public that’s being served here… I’m sure it’s already had a big effect on the sheriff’s department…”
As I wrote in 2019, the CBI’s conclusions, following their investigation, struck me as essentially a white-wash of a serious issue. To this day, I’ve not heard that the BOCC or its Finance Department ever received a full accounting of the missing 1033 equipment. The SUN, meanwhile, did a fine job of sharing the full CBI report, in their May 9, 2019 issue, and it makes for fascinating reading.
Following his election loss in November 2018, Mr. Keating continued researching and speaking publicly about the 1033 mess, demanding that the County government clarify what happened to the unaccounted-for equipment.
As I understand the events of October 15, 2019, Mr. Keating was driving home in his truck, and had in fact consumed a certain quantity of alcoholic beverage. That same evening, ACSO Sgt. Michael Sindelar was conducting field training with recently-hired deputy Shane Bracken. The two officers identified Mr. Keating’s truck and followed him for some distance before pulling him over and — following a curious routine whereby Deputy Bracken repeatedly returned to the patrol vehicle to consult with training officer Sindelar — finally arrested Mr. Keating for allegedly driving under the influence. Mr. Keating was transported to the La Plata County jail, after submitting to a blood test which suggested an alcohol level in excess of the legal limit.
If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Keating’s case was the first court case to be heard at the new Archuleta County Courthouse in Harman Park. During the court proceedings on March 9, 2022, the District prosecutor was approached by Shane Bracken, who shared some information about Mr. Keating’s arrest.
From the SUN’s April 14 article by Terri House:
An investigation report received as part of a criminal justice records request made last month to 6th Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne reveals that on March 9, the morning of Keating’s DUI trial, additional information was provided to Assistant DA David Ottman from Bracken, who was to testify as the arresting officer.
According to the investigation report, Bracken indicated “that there had been rumors circulating at the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office regarding a steak dinner bounty for any Deputy who was able to arrest Robert Keating for DUI.”
This matches up with information I received from Mr. Keating during our recent conversation. It’s my understanding that a government official who offers a ‘bounty’ for the arrest of a particular individual may be committing a crime punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
The article by Ms. House continues, quoting a report by investigator Anthony Meraz:
“Bracken told me that at the time of the traffic stop and the subsequent DUI investigation, he was unaware of a ‘bounty’ being advertised for the arrest of Robert Keating for DUI. Bracken believed it was the following day when he began receiving congratulatory comments and handshakes from several of his fellow Deputies, regarding the arrest of Robert Keating for DUI. Bracken believed it was his [Field Training Officer] at the time, Mike Sindelar, who informed him that the Sheriff [Rich Valdez] and/or possibly the Undersheriff [Derek Woodman] had told employees that there was a steak dinner to be provided” to any Deputy who able to arrest Keating for DUI.
Ms. House wrote that, in a follow-up interview on April 4, District Attorney Christian Champagne was asked if Bracken’s statements had been corroborated by Sindelar.
“I think [Sindelar] confirmed that he told that to Bracken,” Champagne said after checking his case file.
Read Part Two…
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.