St. Louis City Sheriff Alfred Montgomery has been indicted on five new federal felony counts Thursday. Four counts of witness retaliation and one county of witness tampering were added in a superseding indictment.
According to charging documents, in a recorded phone call Montgomery can be heard complaining about three employees talking with the federal government, saying the three "been playing f------ games since day one," and "been telling the feds all type of s---." Montgomery is also alleged to have said they "gotta go."
The documents accuse Montgomery of placing one employee on leave, demoting another and terminating the third.
After his indictment, Montgomery's attorneys defended their client, saying the employment decisions were legal and not retaliatory. They claim protocols were setup to ensure this.
"The sheriff put into place real proper legal employment mechanisms and protocols that were largely spearheaded by Judge David Mason."
However Mason also is leading Montgomery's attorney in many of his civil and criminal cases. Does he think there should have been greater insulation between this committee and Montgomery's legal team?
"No. No one, neither your employer, anyone in any of these office buildings is required to go outside their institutions to do this."
The charges come from a superseding indictment from Montgomery's misdemeanor case for having Deputy Jail Commissioner Tammy Ross detained. Montgomery was initially charged with misdemeanor deprivation of rights. That charge still remains.
Montgomery will serve house arrest until his evidentiary hearing Tuesday and wear an ankle monitor. When asked if Montgomery will resign, his attorneys declined to comment.
While he serves house arrest, the sheriff's department will be ran by Mason until the department's second in command, Col. Yosef Yasharahla, who is currently ill, is back.