MONTROSE, Colo.—Gunnison County jail employees have been arrested on suspicion of perjury, official misconduct and false reporting.
Twenty-seven-year-old Melissa Rogers and 39-year-old Michelle Zadra appeared in court in neighboring Montrose County on Thursday. Afterward, neither responded to a request for comment.
District Attorney Myrl Serra says 25-year-old Tawnya Sponable, a sheriff’s deputy who also worked at the jail, was arrested Wednesday night as part of the Colorado Bureau Investigation’s probe into alleged misconduct at the jail. She is suspected of conspiracy to introduce contraband, conspiracy to commit perjury, first-degree official misconduct, false reporting, theft under $500 and possession of a controlled substance, according to the CBI.
Rogers, a sergeant at the jail, and Zadra, the jail captain, were arrested on suspicion of first-degree perjury, conspiracy to commit perjury, first-degree official misconduct and false reporting to authorities.
Details of the allegations weren’t immediately known. Records in the case have been sealed for 30 days.
Gunnison County Undersheriff Rick Besecker, who attended Thursday’s hearing, said he couldn’t comment.
Each of the three was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond and ordered to surrender keys and passes that would get them into the Gunnison jail.
Authorities say warrants were also issued for an inmate and his wife.
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Information from: The Montrose Daily Press,
