STL Sheriff calls for donations after indictment, raising legal questions
ST. LOUIS - Less than a week after being charged with a federal crime, St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery is now launching a donation drive.
According to the donation drive page via ActBlue.com, donations are being collected "to support" Montgomery’s "campaign."
A veteran attorney that FOX 2 News checked with immediately found a problem with the donation push.
“It should say at the bottom, 'Paid for by Friends [For] Alfred Montgomery,' which is his campaign committee. It does not say that," said Jay Kanzler of Witzel, Kanzler & Dimmitt, LLC.
“That’s a violation of the law,” he added.
The donation request says in part – “Your voice is under attack,” and it comes just days after the sheriff’s indictment.
Kanzler said, “If he’s going to use these funds for payment of legal fees, it’s going to be a problem.”
Kanzler said the Missouri Ethics Commission will be watching the Sheriff’s expenditures to track him.
“The payment of legal fees are not campaign expenditures,” Kanzler said.
Only FOX 2 was in court last Thursday when Montgomery was indicted on a federal charge of misdemeanor deprivation of rights under color of law. Now, Sheriff Montgomery says the voters are the ones being deprived of their rights.
A sheriff’s office spokesman said he did not know about the donation request until we told him. He read it when we showed him and said he couldn’t comment because the request mentions that the money is to support his campaign. He said the only person who can speak to the campaign is the Sheriff himself and no one at the sheriff’s office has seen Alfred Montgomery around in awhile.
In court Thursday, a judge warned Montgomery about showing up to work and being near potential witnesses. One employee said the sheriff is trying to determine the best way to show up without getting into further trouble.
Back to the donation request, Attorney Kanzler added that there’s no way for the sheriff to escape scrutiny over the money he brings in.
“If he doesn’t file it or he files a false report – that’s even worse,” Kanzler said. “The cover up is always worse than the crime.”
He says the sheriff’s campaign expenditures will appear online as a public record and any private activity is being monitored by federal prosecutors.
In addition to his federal indictment, Montgomery is also facing a quo warranto petition from the Missouri Attorney General's Office seeking his removal.
The ongoing indictment and petition against Montgomery outline several allegations during his tenure, including claims of financial mismanagement, along with being accused of rolling golden dice to make decisions, using a deputy to pick up his kids from school, and ordering the detainment of former St. Louis jail administrator Tammy Ross.
