COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) — A judge in Colorado Springs has dismissed all charges against a former sheriff accused of abusing his power after two juries deadlocked on some of the allegations.
Prosecutors decided to re-try former El Paso County sheriff Terry Maketa after a jury in July found him not guilty on several charges and deadlocked on others, including felony extortion.
Terry Maketa in court (credit: CBS)
The second trial ended on Feb. 5 when jurors acquitted Maketa of two counts of official misconduct and deadlocked on extortion charges.
Prosecutors earlier this month asked to dismiss all charges and said they respect jurors’ decisions.
Maketa was accused of threatening to end a $5.3 million contract with the county jail’s health provider if it did not fire an employee who refused to support a favorite of Maketa’s to succeed him as sheriff.
Damn right. This has been nothing but a retaliation lawsuit brought on my the fire chief who the then Sheriff Maketa said did a terrible job with the Black Forest fire. They had worked together for years, but I agree something went awry with that fire because I saw that little thing start. The Sheriff spoke the truth. Retaliation full throttle. What a waste of taxpayers’ monies and such a scam. It should have been thrown out at the onset.