State begins investigation into group accusing sheriff of corruption
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
2 of 3 free articles.
A local group behind a website and several print advertisements alleging wrongdoing by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is being investigated by the state’s Commission of Political Practices for possible illegal campaign activity.
“We have a complaint that we’re looking into,” Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said.
The website in question, asksheriffluckylarson.com, makes several serious accusations against the sheriff and undersheriff, from misuse of tax money to sponsoring inappropriate special response team T-shirts, and credits an anonymous group called Concerned Citizens of Lake County with creating the website.
The website also clearly states, “This site is sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Lake County, and is in no way affiliated with nor does it endorse any sheriff candidate for Lake County.”
But a complaint filed with the Commission of Political Practices says that’s not the case.
“It is apparent to me that the ‘Concerned Citizens of Lake County’ and ‘Concerned Citizens against Jay Doyle for Sheriff’ are one in the same [sic] and are actively campaigning and advertising against one particular candidate,” wrote Lanny VanMeter, a detention officer with the sheriff’s department who is also secretary-treasurer for Jay Doyle for Sheriff.
In his initial complaint to the Commission of Political Practices in April, VanMeter contends that Concerned Citizens of Lake County is actually a political action committee that bought several newspaper advertisements and runs a website campaigning against one candidate — Doyle — in the sheriff’s race.
The potential problem, Unsworth explained, is that campaign law basically requires disclosure of who is behind political ads and who’s paying for them.
“In this instance, the activity has been anonymous,” he said.
But a former Lake County sheriff’s deputy who claims to run the site said it’s not politically motivated. Terry Leonard, who says Larson fired him in February with no explanation, said he’s merely trying to inform citizens of deep-seated problems in the sheriff’s department.
“I would have (made the website) if it were an election year or not,” Leonard said. “I would be doing this regardless of the political climate … it’s not a political issue; it’s a right-and-wrong issue.”
Concerned Citizens also sponsored several advertisements that ran in the Lake County Leader earlier this year. The ads prominently feature Doyle’s picture beside accusations like those on the website, and while Leonard contends the ads were public service announcements, VanMeter says that’s an absurd claim.
“Anybody with one eye and a half sense can see they’re political ads,” VanMeter said.
Not only is Concerned Citizens of Lake County a political action committee operating illegally, VanMeter argues, but “thousands and thousands of unaccounted-for dollars” of taxpayers’ money have been spent investigating claims made on asksheriffluckylarson.com.
“It’s absolutely criminal,” VanMeter said. “They’re tying up and spending a ton of taxpayer money on unsubstantiated stuff.”
Sheriff Lucky Larson and Undersheriff Doyle have said charges made on the website are untrue, and in a May 27 letter to the editor of the Valley Journal, Larson called the Concerned Citizens website “malicious” and wrote that “every issue that has been mentioned has been investigated either by an outside agency or through an internal investigation.
“In each instance, legal counsel has been sought and their advice has been followed,” Larson stated.
VanMeter admits, “there was one thing (on the website) that had a smidgen of truth to it” — a claim that a sheriff’s deputy lied about serving in Desert Storm as a Marine.
The Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council investigated the allegation, and the deputy was placed on administrative leave during the investigation and later reinstated. Larson said he can’t comment on personnel issues, and POST Director Wayne Ternes was out of the office until Sept. 27.
VanMeter also believes Detective Steve Kendley, an Independent candidate in the sheriff’s race, is affiliated with the Concerned Citizens group. VanMeter says emails between Kendley, his supporters and Leonard prove that Concerned Citizens is a political action committee backing Kendley for sheriff — claims that Kendley told the Missoulian are false. Kendley did not return a phone call before press time.
While Unsworth is still unsure exactly who the Commission is investigating, and couldn’t comment on Leonard’s involvement, he said the complaint appears to merit further exploration.
“Based on the response of the person being complained against, we’ll decide whether to investigate or not,” Unsworth explained. “We’re in the early steps of the process.”
