DENVER – The former marshal of the small, southwestern Colorado town of Mancos has pleaded guilty to official misconduct.
The Denver Post reports John Cox entered his plea Thursday and was sentenced to six months of probation. He was the top law enforcement officer in Mancos until November when he resigned following an arrest for driving under the influence.
Days later, he was charged in a separate case with perjury, false reporting and a computer crime.
Prosecutors say Cox falsified a speeding ticket, used a computer system without authorization and abused his power as a law officer. He was ordered to pay $224 in restitution to a woman who authorities say he falsely ticketed for speeding in a school zone.
Cox pleaded guilty in the DUI case earlier this month.
Cox was involved in a single-vehicle crash about 11:10 p.m. Nov. 10 near Cherry Creek subdivision and the La Plata-Montezuma county line.
Cox, who was off-duty at the time, lost control of his 2003 white Ford F-150 pickup and slid into a guardrail. He was taken to the Durango Police Department for a breath test and charged with drunken driving, careless driving and no proof of insurance. He was released to a sober person.
The Colorado State Patrol and the District Attorney’s Office declined to release the former officer’s blood-alcohol content Tuesday, saying they wanted to wait until after sentencing.
Cox was convicted in 2009 in Indianapolis while working as a police chief for a county school system.
In the misconduct case, Cox was accused of second-degree perjury, false reporting to authorities and second-degree misconduct in connection with two separate incidents last year.
In the first case, he was accused of using law-enforcement equipment to conduct a personal investigation into a romantic rival. Specifically, he ran the license plate of a woman’s boyfriend.
In the second incident, he’s suspected of citing a woman for driving 45 mph in a 25 mph zone. He claimed to have caught her on radar, even though he was sitting in a coffee shop when the driver whizzed by.
A hearing on those charged has been set for 10 a.m. March 24 in 22nd Judicial District Court in Cortez.
Cox was hired as a deputy marshal in August 2012 and promoted in April 2013. He was placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 4 and resigned.
