By Maddie Garrett KOAA News 5
EL PASO COUNTY, CO –
Former El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, former Undersheriff Paula Presley, and former Investigative Commander Juan “John” San Augustin were indicted by an El Paso County grand jury Wednesday on nine different counts. The felony and misdemeanor counts range from extortion and conspiracy to 2nd degree kidnapping, false imprisonment and official misconduct. The grand jury indicted Maketa and Presley on all nine counts and San Augustin on two.
If convicted, each felony count carries a sentence of two to six years in prison.
Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for all three. Presley turned herself in Wednesday evening in Pueblo and bonded out of jail the same evening.
In September of 2014, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations opened a criminal investigation into Maketa and others. The 11 page grand jury indictment brings some of those findings in the investigation to light.
The charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion allege that Maketa and Presley threatened to pull a $5.2 million contract with Correctional Healthcare Companies (CHC) if CHC did not follow orders to fire one of its employees, who documented what she said were inappropriate comments made to her by a sheriff’s commander.
Charges of 2nd degree kidnapping and tampering with a victim are filed against Maketa, Presley and San Augustin. In the indictment, it’s stated that the charges stem from a domestic abuse incident between an civilian employee of CHC and an El Paso County Sheriff’s deputy. In the court documents, the victim told investigators that she was punched, pushed and shoved by the deputy, at one point seeing stars.
But in order to save the deputy’s job, Maketa, Presley and San Augustin coerced the victim into changing her statement and tell investigators she instigated the incident and was the aggressor. When she did, she was arrested and detained for more than 24 hours. While the case was later dropped, the arresting deputies are reported as saying they did not agree with her arrest but followed orders from superiors for fear of losing their jobs.
“No one is above the law, not even me, for this reason I thank the CBI, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the grand jury for their diligent work in regarding this matter,” current El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said at a press conference Wednesday.
Elder would not comment on the charges further.
Elder’s missing personnel file from when he was a deputy was also part of the official misconduct charges filed against Maketa and Presley, as his file was later found at Presley’s home.
Presley and Maketa are also accused of essentially blacklisting some deputies, putting them on the District Attorney’s Brady list, because they were known supporters of Elder while he was running for Sheriff.
“When concerns came to light through negative publicity, each member of the Sheriff’s Office continued to do their job, regardless of their assignment, they did it with professionalism and dedication. They did not let these distractions deter their work or their service to our community,” Elder said Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Office said Maketa and Augustin have until Friday at noon to turn themselves in before law enforcement will pursue them. News5 spoke with one of Maketa’s family members Wednesday, who said they believed Maketa is currently in Alaska.
The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office is handling the case, and said all three defendants will appear in court after they are arrested, likely in the next week.
