CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - The mayor of a small Wyoming town and a police officer were charged this week after allegedly misusing a police database, prosecutors said.
Evansville Mayor Jennifer Sorenson was charged with misusing public office while officer Matt McGraw was charged with conspiracy to misuse public office and drug possession, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.
Neither have entered pleas to the charges, which are related to McGraw’s overdose in March at the home he shared with Sorenson. He was hospitalized and medical records showed he had opioids in his system, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, other police officers in the department started to notice McGraw’s signs of drug use. McGraw later said he had used OxyContin and other prescription opioid pain relievers. Sorenson’s ex-husband reported finding codeine in a safe at her home; the prescription was in McGraw’s name.
Investigators said that in examining McGraw’s cell phone, they found messages with Sorenson in which he shared information taken from a police database, court documents said. Those same messages allegedly show Sorenson asked McGraw to look into people’s backgrounds using a police database, which he did, prosecutors said.
Sorenson held a position at Atlantic Aviation, and allegedly used information provided to her for background checks.
McGraw’s attorney Don Fuller said Thursday that he has not received charging documents and McGraw had not appeared in court.
Sorenson’s attorney Frank Chapman told the Star-Tribune that previous reports that she was connected to illegal drug activity were unfounded and that the single charge indicated that.
Sorenson also has yet to appear in court, Chapman said, adding that it is unclear what she would plead to the charge.
“She used city facilities to do background checks on some people and she shouldn’t have done that,” Chapman said. “She’s accepting responsibility for what she did.”
McGraw was placed on administrative leave earlier this year and was suspended without pay on Thursday, town attorney Kyle Ridgeway said. The mayor’s status has not changed.
A town public meeting is scheduled Monday to discuss the situation.
Nobody at Atlantic Aviation’s headquarters in Plano, Texas, could be reached by phone Thursday for comment.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.