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Three jail staff fired

From Staff Reports
Published: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 5:12 PM CDT
LA PORTE — La Porte County Sheriff Michael Mollenhauer has announced the termination of three jail employees.

According to a Sheriff’s Department press release, the three were terminated on Oct. 16 after an investigation into allegations of misconduct on the part of the officers. The Prosecutor’s Office has been consulted, and results of the investigation are being forwarded there for consideration of criminal charges.

In the press release, Mollenhauer said he will not tolerate any type of misconduct, and the investigation was painstakingly thorough as a result of the allegations.

“We take this type of situation very seriously,” he said.

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LaPorte Co. sheriff: Fired jailer was trafficking with offender

By Stan Maddux Times Correspondent
nwi.com |
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 6:30 pm |


LAPORTE | One of three LaPorte County Jail officers terminated recently was dismissed for allegedly trafficking with an offender, according to the county sheriff.

There are allegations the officer and inmate were having sex but Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said that, so far, has not been proved.

The other two jailers were fired for leaking evidence from an ongoing investigation.

Mollenhauer and other members of his staff released more details in a news conference today in response to accusations the matter was being covered up.

According to authorities, James Mrozinski was housed at the jail during the alleged trafficking with the female jailer...

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Fired jail staff will not face charges

By Stan Maddux
For The News-Dispatch
Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 5:26 PM CST
LA PORTE — Three employees recently fired from La Porte County Jail will not face charges.

Chris Fronk, La Porte County deputy prosecuting attorney, said he saw no evidence in information presented to him by the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department to charge any of the three former deputies.

“I don’t have anything that suggests that a crime has been committed,” he said. “He (the sheriff) may have information or allegations, but I don’t have any evidence of that. What I have at this point doesn’t indicate that a crime has been committed.”

Deputies Tiffany Marshall, Angela Meyer and Kevin Scurlock were terminated Oct. 16 after an internal investigation determined allegations in a letter written to one of the deputies by former inmate James Mrozinski were mostly true.

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La Porte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said one deputy was terminated for allegedly trafficking contraband with the inmate, while the other two lost their jobs for allegedly intercepting and exploiting evidence, which was eventually released to the press.

David Gariepy, the La Porte County sheriff candidate who obtained a copy of the letter, said it was addressed to Marshall. Mollenhauer said the person the letter was written to was the one terminated for trafficking contraband. He later passed the information on to the prosecuting attorney’s office.

Marshall denies she was involved in any wrongdoing.

“There’s no truth to that — none whatsoever,” she said. “They’re believing an inmate over me.”

She said she was never given a chance to view the letter and claims she was originally told she wasn’t going to be fired. Now, she is looking for a lawyer.

Fronk said he sees no evidence for the trafficking crime, and said the interception and exploitation of evidence by the other two deputies was a personnel matter.

“It’s more of a violation of employee policy than state statute,” Fronk explained.

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Terminated jailer threatens to file suit

Employee claims he was a whistle-blower
By Matt Field
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, November 25, 2010 5:13 PM CST
LA PORTE — One of three La Porte County Jail employees who were terminated in October has threatened to sue the La Porte County Sheriff’s department, alleging unlawful termination.

In a notice of tort claims, an attorney for Kevin Scurlock alleges that his client has suffered $700,000 in injuries after being terminated for blowing the whistle and reporting an alleged relationship between a former inmate and another jail employee.

Scurlock, a special deputy, was fired Oct. 16 after allegedly using an intermediary to deliver to Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer evidence that another special deputy, Tiffany Marshall, had had an inappropriate relationship with a former inmate.

Deputies Marshall, Angela Meyer and Scurlock were terminated after an internal jail investigation determined allegations in a letter written to one of the deputies by former inmate James Mrozinski were mostly true. Marshall has denied the allegations.

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Scurlock’s notice alleges that after Meyer sent him text messages of a letter sent from Mrozinski to Marshall, Captain Scott Bell found out about the letter.

Scurlock later used an intermediary, Rick Kentaft, to deliver copy of the letter to Mollenhauer. Kentaft “often communicated with Sheriff Mollenhauer over the phone and in-person concerning departmental and political issues,” according to the notice.

The notice alleges that when Mollenhauer learned that Kentaft’s message came from Scurlock, he terminated the deputy.

“Defendant dismissed Scurlock from employment for having made a report in writing, of unlawful activity to Sheriff Mollenhauer,” the notice states.

Mollenhauer said Wednesday he’s “100 percent positively confident” that his department rightly terminated Scurlock.

“He’s not a whistle-blower,” said Mollenhauer, adding, “he evidently didn’t have any trust in his supervisors; he made a mistake, a big mistake, when he tried to intervene like he did.”

Mollenhauer said that upon learning of the alleged evidence against Marshall, Bell began an investigation into the matter.

Back in October, Mollenhauer accused his former Republican rival, David Gariepy, and Kentaft of using the issue for political gain. Both men denied that accusation.

Kentaft leaked the names of the deputies involved to the news media. At the time he said his one-time support for Mollenhauer had evaporated.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Kentaft said the law firm Haskin & LaRue is representing him and has asked him not to comment. Someone who answered the phone at the law firm said attorney Ryan Sink is representing Kentaft. Sink is the same lawyer who filed the notice on behalf of Scurlock.

A message left with Sink requesting comment was not returned.