Almost $1 million taxpayer dollars spent on Sheriff’s Office Controversy
New numbers released by El Paso County show almost $1 million taxpayer dollars have been spent on the controversy surrounding former Sheriff Terry Maketa.
Maketa and former Undersheriff Paula Presley face nine charges including extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, tampering with a witness of victim and first degree official misconduct. Maketa, Presley and former commander John San Agustin also face second-degree kidnapping and false imprisonment charges.
A spokesperson for the county sent KRDO NewsChannel 13 a break down of the costs of the controversy. Last time the county took a tally was February.
Investigation total (includes outside attorney fees and financial audit):$393,533.19
Additional Litigation and related expenses:$97,304.06
Additional Attorney Fees: $9,817.70
Settlements: $318,000.00
In total, $818,654.95 was spent as of February.
The county said money spent on settlements could keep climbing because all the cases have not been resolved.
The money comes out of the county’s Risk Management Fund. It’s built into the budget to accommodate these kinds of expenses. While it is taxpayer dollars, the costs associated with the controversy will not make taxes go up.
Following a grand jury’s indictment on Wednesday, Littleton saidshe’s glad taxpayers see results.
“I am glad. I am glad that the taxpayers have some answers, one step closer to knowing that this isn’t going to be dropped, that no one is getting off scot-free,” said Littleton.
Since Maketa was a county employee and acting as sheriff at the time the crimes allegedly occurred, the the county had to pay for some of his legal fees initially and will cover the costs of the settlements with employees.
