Three former executive staff members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office are charged with forgery and conspiracy in a scheme to falsify records for state-mandated training they did not complete, state Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office announced Thursday.
The attorney general’s office accused former Adams County Sheriff Richard Reigenborn, former Undersheriff Thomas McLallen and former Division Chief Michael Bethel of signing training rosters for classes they did not attend and submitting training certificates to Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training in “an attempt to count these fictitious trainings towards their 2021 mandatory annual training hours,” according to a news release.
Bethel also allegedly used McLallen’s online account password to complete training for McLallen on his account.
Reigenborn is also the defendant in an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit that claims he forced four former sheriff’s office employees, including current Sheriff Gene Claps, to resign or be fired for supporting Republican incumbent Sheriff Mike McIntosh over him in the 2018 election.
Reigenborn, Bethel and McLallen allegedly conducted the “scheme” to falsify records in December 2021, according to a letter an Adams County sheriff’s commander sent to the state’s standards and training agency cited in the arrest affidavit.
Without counting the fraudulent trainings, Reigenborn and McLallen lacked the hours needed to meet in-service training requirements for 2021.
Colorado peace officers are required to complete at least 24 hours annually of in-service training, according to the news release.
Law enforcement agencies could lose grant funding if they are found to be out of compliance with training rules due to officers failing to complete the required training, according to the news release.
“A foundation of effective policing is reliable and sound training,” Weiser said. “Well-trained officers build community trust and confidence in law enforcement. We’ll continue to take seriously any allegation of efforts to disregard state-mandated training or submit fraudulent training records to (Peace Officer Standards and Training).”
All three are charged with felony counts of forgery, attempt to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit forgery, and conspiracy to attempt to influence a public servant. The cases are filed in Denver District Court.
The civil rights lawsuit filed by Claps, former Chief Timothy James Coats, former Capt. Mark Mitchell and former Cmdr. Kevin Currier alleges Reigenborn violated their rights to free speech and due process. The lawsuit also claims Reigenborn replaced them by hiring his less-qualified friends, including Bethel.
In a statement, the law firm representing Claps, Coats, Mitchell and Currier called the charges “alarming but not surprising.”
“They are the latest example in a pattern of dishonesty and unlawful conduct that began on Reigenborn’s very first day in office — when he deliberately fired, demoted, or pushed out the career law enforcement officers whom he believed were not politically loyal to him,” attorneys with Rathod Mohamedbhai said in a statement.
“Reigenborn’s unlawful attempt to clear out any political opponents from the Sheriff’s Office violated employees’ First Amendment rights. And it allowed Reigenborn to replace qualified officers with political supporters like McLallen and Bethel, who are now his co-defendants in their fraudulent scheme,” the statement continued.
The lawsuit is currently before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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