A former Lake County Sheriff’s sergeant has been sentenced to probation for removing firearms from the evidence room.
Jeffrey Hartman was sentenced Thursday to two years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service, according to a Lake County District Attorney’s Office media release.
Hartman, who served as a an evidence custodian, pleaded guilty on Jan. 21 to official misconduct and embezzlement of public property.
Hartman can not possess firearms during the probation period.
Hartman was found in possession of an assault rifle, which went missing from the evidence room after it was scheduled to be destroyed.
In April 2014 a scheme to sell guns from the evidence room was discovered when a citizen complained that he had paid Deputy Sheriff William Berry for a .38 semi-automatic handgun but had not received it, prosecutors said.
The complaint lead officials to a possible theft of evidence triggering an investigation coordinated by the district attorney’s office.
Berry auctioned a Colt handgun, which had been seized as evidence during a domestic violence investigation, for more than $2,300.
“Preservation of evidence is critical to the legitimacy of our judicial system and law enforcement officers are angered when they hear of a colleague who abuses the privilege to serve our community,” District Attorney Bruce Brown said in the release.
On May 15, 2015, Berry was found guilty of embezzlement of public property and official misconduct and sentenced to three years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service.
All of the missing weapons were recovered and returned to the sheriff’s office during the course of the investigation.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson
