KC sheriff denies wrongdoing with forfeiture funding

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger maintains his department’s sharing of drug asset forfeiture funds with the North Idaho Children’s Advocacy Center was legal and vetted by the county prosecutor and U.S. Department of Justice.

Wolfinger issued a statement over the weekend in response to news stories published last week detailing allegations made in a federal lawsuit filed last year by a former sheriff’s captain.

“The dollars donated to the Child Advocacy Center from the Sheriff’s Drug Forfeiture Account were intended to combat domestic violence, sexual abuse, and like crimes, and were donated as a public service to the community,” said Wolfinger. “There was no intrinsic gain to the Sheriff’s Office other than using dollars seized from drug dealers to help investigate and prevent child abuse.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by attorneys for Dan Soumas, a former sheriff’s captain whose employment was terminated by Wolfinger in September 2017. The complaint alleges that Soumas’ Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated through his termination, including a right to due process.

Soumas’ lawyer, Larry Beck of Hayden, said in the lawsuit that although Soumas was tasked with ensuring proposed expenditures from the Sheriff’s Drug Asset Forfeiture Account complied with Department of Justice regulations, for several months, beginning in March 2017, Soumas was not consulted when expenditures occurred.

The county’s Drug Asset Forfeiture Account consists of dollars seized as part of criminal and civil prosecutions against criminal enterprises such as drug distribution networks. These one-time funds cannot be used for personnel, but for other items, such as training, equipment and programs not covered by a department’s operating budget.

According to Beck, in June 2017, Soumas questioned a proposed payment of $30,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center to pay an employee’s salary.

The North Idaho Children’s Advocacy Center is run by Safe Passage, a violence prevention and victims advocacy program, in partnership with other local agencies. The center provides a space for children who have been the victims of crimes to be interviewed.

Per DOJ rules, a state or local law enforcement agency can transfer shared funds to a nonprofit whose mission is consistent with a law enforcement effort, policy or initiative, but there’s a $25,000 cap and the money cannot be used to pay a salary.

Soumas claims senior county command officers were not happy because he contacted the county prosecutor about the proposed $30,000 expense.

He was let go in September 2017, a month after it was reported to this paper that the Sheriff’s Office had shared $23,000 from its Drug Asset Forfeiture Account with the Children’s Advocacy Center.

The bulk of the allegations in the Soumas complaint are related to the former captain’s employment and termination, which Wolfinger did not address in his statement.

“On the advice of legal counsel, the Sheriff’s Office does not comment on pending litigation and personnel matters cannot be discussed without a written waiver from the former employee,” he said.

Wolfinger denied, through his lawyer in court records, the employment-related accusations made by Soumas.

The case is moving toward mediation that, according to a court order, must take place by April 22.