More than five months after federal, state and local law enforcement officers searched the property of a former Montezuma County commissioner, a prosecutor in Montrose County is determining whether to file charges in the case.
The investigation of former commissioner Larrie Rule came to light when his home-based . The search was initiated by the Colorado State Patrol and its vehicle-theft task force.
The search warrant was sealed in the case, and investigators have not released any details about what prompted the investigation. Neighbors of the Rule property said that during the search law enforcement officials drove two cement mixers from the Rule property.
The investigation has taken much longer than the state patrol anticipated. Colorado State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mike Baker initially said information about the case would be released in the weeks following the search. Baker later told the Cortez Journal that information about the investigation would be made public in late April or early May. He attributed the delay to the complicated nature of stolen-vehicle cases involving multiple jurisdictions in more than one state.
Nate Reed, another spokesman for the state patrol, said he could not comment on the case.
The state patrol’s investigative materials are now in the hands of 7th Judicial District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller in Montrose. Sherry McKenzie, the public information officer for the DA’s office, said the material is being reviewed but she said she has no idea when a charging decision will be made.
Rule was a county commissioner in Cortez for eight years before he left office because of term limits at the end of last year. His wife, Pat DeGagne Rule, resigned her longtime chairmanship of the Montezuma County Republican Party last year to run for her husband’s seat. She petitioned to be on the ballot but was not chosen in the primary.
DeGagne Rule declined to comment on the case when contacted by phone.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957, nlofholm@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nlofholm
