St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery speaks in court (KSDK/YouTube).
A Missouri sheriff facing federal charges for alleged misuse of power has been barred from managing his department while in jail.
Alfred Montgomery, the 28-year-old St. Louis Sheriff, has been suspended from his duties until a trial on November 18 decides his eligibility to serve. This ruling was celebrated by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who has been advocating for Montgomery’s removal.
“The decision to temporarily remove Sheriff Montgomery was essential,” Hanaway stated. “A sheriff under federal indictment, involved in a quo warranto proceeding, and currently incarcerated cannot effectively lead a law enforcement agency.”
She further commented, “Our office will persist in pursuing the case to ensure that the Court grants the quo at the trial on November 18. The citizens of St. Louis deserve law enforcement leaders who are reliable, competent, and trustworthy.”
Montgomery took office in January, but his tenure as head of the St. Louis Sheriff’s Department has been fraught with controversy.
In February, he visited the city’s downtown City Justice Center after receiving a report that an inmate had engaged in sexual activities with a sheriff’s deputy. He expressed a desire to speak with the detainee, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
When deputy jail director Tammy Ross refused, Montgomery reportedly ordered his deputies to handcuff her. Hanaway would end up suing to have Montgomery removed from office, and the FBI launched an investigation.
Montgomery’s office is not only unique in that it is a city sheriff’s department, but — unlike other sheriff’s departments across the state — it does not run the jail or perform general law enforcement duties, according to the regional newspaper. Sheriff’s deputies are instead tasked with transporting prisoners to and from court, providing courthouse security, and serving legal papers.
After Hanaway’s lawsuit to have Montgomery ousted was filed, retired Missouri Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer was tasked with overseeing the case. Despite the attorney general’s pleas, however, Ohmer denied a request for an immediate suspension of Montgomery.
Montgomery was originally indicted in August by the U.S. Attorney’s Office — but it was on Oct. 8, that a superseding indictment was filed. And this indictment contained scores of details into the sheriff’s alleged unlawful behavior.
After the FBI began interviewing witnesses in February about the courthouse detention, Montgomery is accused of demoting a deputy because he believed he had cooperated with the investigation. He then promoted the officer back to his rank of lieutenant, doing so before the officer’s deposition and expressing pleasure in the timing.
There were other employees he appeared to be worried about.
According to the affidavit, in a Sept. 5, recorded phone call, Montgomery said three employees had “been playing f— games since day one” and were “the ones been telling the feds all type of s—… We got it on record, the depositions, … statements to the FBI, all the s— [they] been telling them people … It’s been the motherf— the whole f— time.”
“I’m sick of this s— and I’m sick of these snake motherf—,” he allegedly added, saying they “gotta go.”
“I don’t have to take this s—, I’m the f— sheriff,” Montgomery went on, according to the affidavit, which added that the next day, he told three employees they were not allowed in the courthouse. “I say it’s either done or it ain’t. I don’t have to tolerate this s—. You work for the pleasure of me. I brought you in this mother—, I will move you up out this mother—.”
A trial on the federal criminal charges has not yet been scheduled.
