The former El Paso County deputy who disappeared for a year and pretended to have cancer to solicit money accepted a plea deal Monday and received four years of probation.

Kevin Sypher, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and one count of official misconduct in a Monday disposition hearing, according to court records. The plea deal dropped one count of charitable fraud and a second count of official misconduct from his case.

In Wednesday’s hearing, 4th Judicial District Court Judge Jill Brady sentenced Sypher to four years of probation — two years for each charge — and ordered him to pay nearly $1,700 in victim compensation funds, court charges and probation fees.

Brady sentenced Sypher to a deferred sentence of two years for theft — a form of probation that allows a defendant to avoid a conviction on their record by postponing sentencing until the end of a supervised period — according to court records.

In exchange for the deferral, the defendant usually pleads guilty to the charges, pays fines and costs and agrees to supervision terms set by the court. If all the terms are met, the case is dismissed and the conviction is not added to their record.

Brady also sentenced Sypher to two years of traditional probation and 48 hours of community service for official misconduct.

The sheriff’s office began investigating Sypher in March 2023 after a doctor filed a complaint with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Unit, claiming that Sypher had asked for help with a fake crisis negotiation training scenario earlier that month.

During the scenario, the doctor called a “role player” and read a script provided by Sypher. The script stated that Sypher had several tumors and had recently stopped taking a chemotherapy drug used to treat cancer, officials said.

The “role player” was later discovered to be Sypher’s second wife, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the investigation, officials learned that at least seven people gave Sypher large sums of money totaling more than $20,000 after he claimed he had cancer and couldn’t afford to pay for treatment.

Sypher also married another woman while still married to his first wife and solicited money by claiming he was divorcing his first wife and his bank accounts were frozen, officials said.

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Originally Published: July 18, 2024 at 2:16 p.m.