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Boulder DA Told of Sullivan Accusations 9 Months Ago

Written by Brian Maass
DENVER (CBS4) - A CBS4 Investigation has learned that a tipster contacted Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett beginning in March, telling Garnett that former Sheriff Pat Sullivan was involved in illegal drug dealing, months before Sullivan was arrested on felony drug charges.

CBS4 obtained a series of emails to Garnett beginning in March and continuing through June that laid out the case against Sullivan.

In an email from May 4, Mark Seibel told Garnett, "I guess as far as Pat Sullivan is concerned, there are a lot of lives on the line.. so please respond soon with how you would like to proceed."

Seibel followed up on May 20 again emailing Garnett, "I got new evidence pertaining to Pat Sullivan."

Garnett confirmed receiving the emails and corresponding with Seibel.

Watch excerpts from CBS4's interview with Seibel about why he says he blew the whistle on Sullivan in the video clip below:

"And certainly this was important and we wanted to make sure it got passed on to the right people to do the investigation," said Garnett. "I asked one of my investigators to take the information and determine what to do with it and we forwarded it to drug investigators who then passed it on to other task forces that were investigating drug issues in the metro area."

Seibel says he was never contacted directly by an investigator, but Garnett said the information in the emails was definitely passed along.

STORY ARCHIVE: Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Sullivan Arrested

"The only person I talked to was my own investigator who works for me, who then passed it on to other drug task forces," said Garnett.

The emails, and Garnett's involvement, confirm that Sullivan was on law enforcement's radar long before his November 29 arrest in Aurora, when authorities claim Sullivan tried to trade methamphetamine for sex with a male acquaintance.

As to why Seibel contacted the Boulder DA, Garnett said, "I think there may have been a belief that there was some activity that occurred in Boulder County that needed to be looked at."

Garnett said there was no such activity, but that suspicion prompted the man to reach out to Garnett.

Garnett said he didn't hear any more about the case until after Sullivan was arrested in Aurora just over a week ago.

"I was pretty surprised," said Garnett.

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