CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A well-respected former Colorado sheriff is being held on a half-million-dollar bond in the jail named for him, suspected of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance.
Arapahoe County chief judge William Sylvester on Wednesday doubled the bond for the county’s former sheriff, Patrick Sullivan. The judge also ordered Sullivan not to try to contact anyone who may be involved in the case.
Sullivan’s attorney protested the increase because no charges have been filed.
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Sullivan appeared at the court hearing dressed in an orange jail uniform. The 68-year-old walked with a cane and still had handcuffs around his wrists that were attached to a chain around his waist.
Sullivan came to the attention of law enforcement after an Oct. 4 call to authorities from a home in Centennial, according to an arrest affidavit. The deputy who responded had worked for Sullivan and knew who he was.
After investigating further, the deputy learned from two confidential informants that Sullivan was dealing meth but would sell it only if they had sex with him, the document stated. He was arrested after police set up a sting at a home.
Deputies found that Sullivan had handed someone a bag of methamphetamine and had another bag on him when he was searched, according to the affidavit. Both bags together weighed less than a gram.
Sullivan was sheriff of the suburban Denver county from 1984 until he retired in 2002.
Arapahoe County’s jail is named for the former lawman, the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.
In 2002, Sullivan was praised by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo in the congressional record on his retirement. Tancredo cited Sullivan’s work in promoting homeland security, for being named Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff’s Association in 2001, and for his work as law enforcement chairman of the Colorado George W. Bush for President committee.
In 1989, he was hailed as a hero after he rescued two deputies after crashing his truck through a fence and protecting them while they were loaded into the vehicle. Arapahoe County Deputy Daniel Thomas and Deputy Arthur Hilton were treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds and shrapnel wounds from flying glass.
During the rampage, Eugene Thompson Jr., described by authorities as a 20-year-old man with an insatiable appetite for cocaine, killed two women with a semiautomatic machine pistol, raped another woman, and wounded two deputies
After his retirement, Sullivan became head of security for the Cherry Creek School District.
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