Lake County sheriff sued by past and present officers

A group of past and present officers with the Lake County Sheriff's Office has filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Jay Doyle and three other officers alleging unlawful conduct.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Missoula, alleges violations of the First, Fourth and 14th amendments as well as two allegations of racketeering connected with the 2010 election for Lake County sheriff and alleged actions against the plaintiffs for attempting to report violations of federal law.

Terry Leonard, Steven Kendley, Michel Gehl, Ben Woods and Levi Reed claim that they have been reprimanded, demoted, been denied promotions and been subjected to a hostile work environment by department leadership for their legal and justified actions. They said that they would have preferred not to file a lawsuit in the case.

"They have done so only after attempting to bring an end to the illegal and corrupt practices of the Lake County Sheriff's Department by bringing the issues to the Lake County Attorney's Office and the Montana Attorney General," a press release issued in conjunction with the filing of the lawsuit stated. "However, no law enforcement agency in Montana has shown any inclination to enforce the law against law enforcement officers in Lake County."

Count one of the lawsuit alleges defendants Jay Doyle, Michael Sargeant, Dan Duryee and Dan Yonkin violated the plaintiffs' free-speech rights by retaliating against them for several actions. Among those actions were Kendley's choice to run for Lake County Sheriff against Doyle and the rest of the plaintiffs' support of Kendley, as well as the group's decision to report what they believed were violations of federal law by the defendants.

Their reports included allegations that Duryee had illegally altered a firearm registered to the department from a rifle to a machine gun and was put in command of the SWAT teams by falsely representing service in the U.S. Marines. They also alleged Doyle, Sargeant and Duryee belonged to a game-poaching group known as the "Coyote Club."

They also reported officers stole ammunition donated to the department by a private citizen and appropriated it for their own personal use.

The plaintiffs allege that because of their complaints of wrongdoing, Kendley, Woods, Read and Gehl received written reprimands and Woods, Gehl and Read were suspended without pay, with Doyle reportedly telling Gehl they were suspended without pay because of their allegations against the department.

Kendley and Gehl have claimed that they were demoted as a direct result of exercising their free speech, and all the plaintiffs claim to have suffered continual harassment and that the defendants "knowingly, oppressively and maliciously" caused them severe emotional distress.

The lawsuit alleges Leonard's free-speech rights were also violated by the seizure of his personal computer and computer equipment with the sole purpose of silencing him prior to the election. That allegation is also the basis for the second count, which argues that Doyle and Yonkin conspired to violate Leonard's rights to protection from unlawful search and seizure and to due process.

Leonard had used his computer to launch a website to inform potential voters of the supposedly unlawful conduct being reported to authorities by the other plaintiffs. The lawsuit states that on Sept. 29, 2010, Lake County Attorney Mitch Young authorized a warrant to search Leonard's home and to seize his computers and associated equipment.

The basis for the warrant was a series of emails between Leonard and other people, which had been provided to Doyle from an anonymous source whom he knew "to be a reliable informant." That informant has since allegedly been discovered to be Pat O'Conner, a former deputy who allegedly had been "working undercover" for Doyle.

Leonard filed on Feb. 1, 2011, for his property to be returned to him as no charges were ever brought against him. The property was returned nine days later.

Although the warrant authorized the search of Leonard's house and seizure of the computer equipment, the suit alleges it did not allow a search of the computers themselves, but that before the equipment was returned, Yonkin illegally copied Leonard's hard drive without ever informing him.

The suit also alleges that a warrant allowing the hard drive to be searched was later applied for on May 6, 2011, even though it had already been searched and copied in February. It states that the department still possesses that copy.

Two counts of racketeering are also claimed in the lawsuit.

The first alleges that the defendants conspired "with criminal purpose" to illegally hinder or prevent the plaintiffs from reporting criminal activity of members of the department, "specifically the unlawful killing, poaching and interstate transport of illegally taken game."

The second count alleges that the defendants conspired to harm the plaintiffs by interfering with their legal employment or livelihood in retaliation.

Damages sought by the lawsuit include compensation for deprivation of constitutional rights, costs and attorney's fees, punitive damages for malicious and oppressive actions toward the plaintiffs, actual, general and special damages and any other relief deemed just by the court.

The plaintiffs are represented by Richard Buley of Tipp & Buley in Missoula.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.