You don't need a gun, the police (sheriff) will protect you. (Especially this noble crowd.)
It's beginning to look like we can always depend upon Denver to supply us with interesting news.
http://www.insidedenver.com/news/0729sent6.shtml
Former sheriff gets probation for illegal gun
By Karen Abbott
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Former Ouray County Sheriff Jerry Wakefield was sentenced Friday to five years on probation for possessing a sawed-off shotgun that he failed to register.
"I am deeply embarrassed," Wakefield told the judge.
His lawyer, Richard Stuckey, said many law enforcement officers don't know that while they can possess sawed-off shotguns that are illegal for other people to have, they must register them.
Wakefield, 62, pleaded guilty.
Denver U.S. District Judge Daniel Sparr ordered Wakefield to spend the first six months of his probation in home detention with electronic monitoring.
Sparr reminded the former sheriff that he must not possess any firearms.
"Listen up, Mr. Wakefield: You will not possess a firearm," the judge said. "Any firearm. I wouldn't even have a cap gun."
If Wakefield behaves for three years, Sparr said, he likely won't have to serve the remaining two years of probation.
Wakefield still faces state charges of embezzlement and theft involving guns, cash and other items of government property. Leonard Chesler, Wakefield's attorney in the state case, said his client will plead guilty to nearly all charges Aug. 8.
The three-term sheriff resigned in November amid a spreading scandal in which his two adult daughters and two deputy sheriffs were accused of participating in a drug ring.
Chesler said the cases are unrelated.
Sparr could have sentenced Wakefield to up to two years in prison. He said he chose probation partly because of his health.
The former sheriff appeared in Sparr's courtroom Friday with an oxygen tank. Sparr said Wakefield's physician recommended Wakefield not be jailed because of pulmonary ailments.
But the judge said he also had been told that Wakefield had been seen around Ridgway, where he lives, helping a daughter with a paint job. Stuckey said Wakefield wasn't taking the best care of his own health.
"The defendant should be given an opportunity to stay at home, take care of his wife, take care of his own condition," Sparr said.
Contact Karen Abbott at (303) 892-5188 or abbottk@RockyMountainNews.com.
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co
It's beginning to look like we can always depend upon Denver to supply us with interesting news.
http://www.insidedenver.com/news/0729sent6.shtml
Former sheriff gets probation for illegal gun
By Karen Abbott
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Former Ouray County Sheriff Jerry Wakefield was sentenced Friday to five years on probation for possessing a sawed-off shotgun that he failed to register.
"I am deeply embarrassed," Wakefield told the judge.
His lawyer, Richard Stuckey, said many law enforcement officers don't know that while they can possess sawed-off shotguns that are illegal for other people to have, they must register them.
Wakefield, 62, pleaded guilty.
Denver U.S. District Judge Daniel Sparr ordered Wakefield to spend the first six months of his probation in home detention with electronic monitoring.
Sparr reminded the former sheriff that he must not possess any firearms.
"Listen up, Mr. Wakefield: You will not possess a firearm," the judge said. "Any firearm. I wouldn't even have a cap gun."
If Wakefield behaves for three years, Sparr said, he likely won't have to serve the remaining two years of probation.
Wakefield still faces state charges of embezzlement and theft involving guns, cash and other items of government property. Leonard Chesler, Wakefield's attorney in the state case, said his client will plead guilty to nearly all charges Aug. 8.
The three-term sheriff resigned in November amid a spreading scandal in which his two adult daughters and two deputy sheriffs were accused of participating in a drug ring.
Chesler said the cases are unrelated.
Sparr could have sentenced Wakefield to up to two years in prison. He said he chose probation partly because of his health.
The former sheriff appeared in Sparr's courtroom Friday with an oxygen tank. Sparr said Wakefield's physician recommended Wakefield not be jailed because of pulmonary ailments.
But the judge said he also had been told that Wakefield had been seen around Ridgway, where he lives, helping a daughter with a paint job. Stuckey said Wakefield wasn't taking the best care of his own health.
"The defendant should be given an opportunity to stay at home, take care of his wife, take care of his own condition," Sparr said.
Contact Karen Abbott at (303) 892-5188 or abbottk@RockyMountainNews.com.
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co
